PRESIDENTIAL 
NOMINATIONS 


AND 


ELECTIONS 

JOSEPH  BUCKLIN  BISHOP 


GIFT   OF 
Prof.   Yoshi  S.   Kuno 


PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 
AND  ELECTIONS 


From  a  photograph  copyright  by  Underwood  &  Underwood. 

Inauguration  Day,  Washington. 


PKESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 
AND  ELECTIONS 


A  HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  CONVENTIONS 

NATIONAL  CAMPAIGNS,  INAUGURATIONS  AND 

CAMPAIGN  CARICATURE 


WITH   NUMEROUS  ILLUSTRATIONS 


BY 

JOSEPH   BUCKLIN   BISHOP 

AUTHOR  OP  "THE  PANAMA  GATEWAY,"  ETC. 


NEW  YORK 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 
1916 


COPTBIGHT,    1916.    BT 

CHARLES  SCRIBXER-S  SON'S 


Published  April,  1916 


-- 


:    .•  ••• .». 

::':  x:  :.:•:!..! 


PREFACE 

A  PORTION  of  the  material  in  this  volume  ap- 
peared in  a  book  published  by  me  in  1904,  en- 
titled "Our  Political  Drama,"  which  is  now  out  of 
print.  It  consisted  mainly  of  articles  published 
at  various  times  in  the  Century  Magaziney  and  was 
a  compilation  of  notable  phases  of  presidential 
politics,  together  with  personal  anecdotes  and  in- 
cidents, rather  than  a  comprehensive  survey  of 
the  field.  In  the  present  volume  the  original  ma- 
terial has  been  retained,  and  to  it  has  been  added 
sufficient  new  matter  to  present  a  complete  review 
of  presidential  conventions,  elections,  and  inaugura- 
tions down  to  the  present  time.  Chapters  have 
been  added  also  giving  an  account  of  the  electoral 
machinery  and  the  results  of  each  national  elec- 
tion. 

I  am  much  indebted  to  Stanwood's  "History 
of  the  Presidency,"  which  is  an  inexhaustible  mine 
of  exact  information  upon  all  subjects  connected 
with  conventions,  campaigns,  and  elections,  and  to 
Colonel  A.  K.  McClure's  "Our  Presidents  and  How 
We  Make  Them."  I  have  drawn  freely  from  these 
and  also  from  Thurlow  Weed's  "Autobiography," 
from  Greeley^s  "Recollections  of  a  Busy  Life," 
and  from  the  volumes  of  "The  American  States- 


M199179 


vi  PREFACE 

man  Series,"   published  by  Houghton,   Mifflin  & 
Company. 

I  wish  also  to  make  grateful  acknowledgment  to 
the  Century  Company  for  permission  to  use  the 
illustrations  which  accompanied  my  articles  in 
their  magazine,  to  Harper  Brothers  for  the  illus- 
trations reproduced  from  Harper' 's  Weekly,  and  to 
the  former  firm  of  Messrs.  Keppler  &  Schwarz- 
mann,  for  the  Gillam  cartoons  from  Puck. 

J.  B.  B. 

NEW  YORK,  April,  1916. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.    ORIGIN  OF  NOMINATING  CONVENTIONS    ...  1 

II.    FIRST  NATIONAL  CONVENTIONS 8 

III.  THE  FIRST  "DARK  HORSE" 16 

IV.  CLAY'S  BITTERNESS  IN  DEFEAT 22 

V.    WEBSTER'S  LONG  AND  HOPELESS  QUEST     .   .  28 

VI.    LINCOLN'S  Two  NOMINATIONS  AND  ELECTIONS  37 

VII.    LAST  DEMOCRATIC  CONVENTIONS  BEFORE  THE 

CIVIL  WAR 51 

VIII.    ELAINE'S  FATE  LIKE  CLAY'S 55 

IX.    CLEVELAND'S  FIRST  NOMINATION  AND  CAM- 
PAIGN    62 

X.    REPUBLICAN    CONVENTIONS    BETWEEN    1868 

AND  1908 70 

XL    THE  THIRD-TERM  CONVENTION 77 

XII.    THE  TWO-THIRDS  RULE  AND  ITS  EFFECTS     .  89 

XIII.  THE  "STEAM  ROLLER"  CONVENTION   ....  99 

XIV.  THE  PROGRESSIVE  CONVENTION 120 

XV.    MACHINERY  OF  PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTIONS     .  125 

XVI.    CAMPAIGN  METHODS  AND  CARICATURE    ...  132 

vii 


viii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XVII.    GENESIS  OF  AMERICAN  POLITICAL  CARICA- 
TURE    142 

XVIII.    CARTOONS  OF  LINCOLN'S  FIRST  CAMPAIGN  151 

XIX.    WEEKLY  AND  DAILY  JOURNAL  CARTOONS  157 

XX.    WASHINGTON'S  INAUGURATIONS 165 

XXI.    JOHN  ADAMS'S  GLOOMY  ENTRANCE    ...  176 

XXII.    THE   TRUTH   ABOUT   JEFFERSONIAN   SIM- 
PLICITY    181 

XXIII.  INAUGURATION  CLOTHES  AND  CUSTOMS     .  186 

XXIV.  THE  JACKSON  INVASION 190 

XXV.    UNIQUE  DISTINCTION  OF  THE  ADAMSES     .  195 

XXVI.      "TlPPECANOE"      AND      OTHER      INAUGURA- 
TIONS        200 

XXVII.    LINCOLN'S  FIRST  INAUGURATION     ....  205 

XXVIII.    RESULTS  OF  NATIONAL  ELECTIONS     ...  215 

INDEX   .  227 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Inauguration  Day,  Washington Frontispiece 

FACING 
PAGE 

Washington's  inauguration 10 

The  crush  at  the  White  House  after  Jackson's  inauguration    .  18 

The  Harrison-Tippecanoe  inauguration  parade 24 

The  approach  to  the  Capitol  during  Folk's  inauguration  ...  32 

The  wigwam,  in  which  Lincoln  was  nominated  in  1860    ...  40 

Buchanan's  inauguration 48 

The  South  Carolina  Institute  in  which  the  Democratic  con- 
vention of  1860  met 52 

Phryne  before  the  Chicago  tribunal 60 

"Love's  labor  lost" 68 

"Me  and  Jack" 74 

!  : 82 

Climax  of  the  Republican  convention  held  in  Chicago,  when 

Blaine  was  defeated  for  the  nomination 94 

The  Republican  convention,  Chicago,  June  18,  1912     ....  104 

Senator  Root  presiding  at  the  Republican  convention,  Chicago, 

June  19,  1912 114 

The  National  Progressive  convention,  Chicago,  August  6, 1912  122 

Fancied  security,  or  the  rats  on  a  bender 134 

Jackson  clearing  the  kitchen 134 

Loco  Foco  candidates  travelling 140 

"A  Boston  notion  of  the  World's  Fair — a  new  cradle  of 

liberty" 140 

ix 


x  ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING 
PAGE 

The  great  presidential  sweepstakes 148 

The  "mustang"  team 148 

An  heir  to  the  throne 154 

"Young  America" 154 

"The  impending  crisis" — or  caught  in  the  act 162 

"The  nigger"  in  the  woodpile 162 

Progressive  Democracy — prospect  of  a  smash  up 168 

Running  the  "machine" 174 

The  "secession  movement" 174 

Why  don't  you  take  it? 182 

The  true  issue  or  "That's  what's  the  matter" 182 

The  elephant  and  his  keepers 188 

Red-hot  Republicans  on  the  Democratic  gridiron 188 

The  alarm 192 

The  council    . 192 

The  special  train 194 

The  old  complaint 194 

The  Tammany  tiger  loose — "What  are  you  going  to  do  about 

it?" 198 

The  third-term  panic 202 

Cincinnatus 206 

Stranger  things  have  happened 210 

"Home-stretched" 210 

President  Wilson  taking  the  oath  of  office,  1913 212 


PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 
AND  ELECTIONS 


PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 
AND  ELECTIONS 

CHAPTER  I 
ORIGIN  OF  NOMINATING  CONVENTIONS 

THE  nominating  convention  is  a  purely  American 
invention  and  a  natural  outgrowth  of  popular  gov- 
ernment. It  came  into  being  with  the  enlargement 
of  the  suffrage  through  the  gradual  removal  of  re- 
striction upon  it  and  with  the  steadily  increasing 
demand  of  the  people  to  have  a  voice  in  the  selection 
of  candidates  for  office.  Before  the  Revolution,  and 
for  many  years  afterward,  political  action  was  con- 
trolled by  unofficial  and  voluntary  associations  or 
coteries  of  persons  who  were  drawn  together  by  kin- 
dred opinions  and  whose  prominence  in  the  affairs 
of  the  community  made  them  its  natural  leaders. 
These  gatherings  very  early  in  their  career  took  the 
name  of  caucus.  The  origin  of  this  word  is  obscure 
and  much  erudite  speculation,  some  of  it  amusing, 
has  been  brought  to  bear  upon  it.  One  theory  was 
that  it  was  derived  from  the  Algonquin  Indian  word 
kaw-kaw-wus — to  consult,  to  speak — but  this  had 
few  supporters.  Another,  which  John  Pickering,  an 

early  American  philologist,  set  forth  gravely  in  his 

1 


2          PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

"Vocabulary  of  Americanisms/'  published  in  Bos- 
ton in  1816,  made  it  a  corruption  of  "calkers."  In 
the  early  politics  of  Boston,  and  particularly  during 
the  first  difficulties  between  the  townsmen  and  the 
British  troops,  the  seafaring  men  and  those  employed 
about  the  shipyards  were  prominent  among  the 
townspeople,  and  there  were  numerous  gatherings, 
say  advocates  of  this  theory,  which  may  have  very 
easily  come  to  be  called  by  way  of  reproach  a  meet- 
ing of  calkers  after  the  least  influential  class  who 
attended  them,  or  from  the  calking  house  or  calk 
house  in  which  they  were  held.  What  was  at  first  a 
derisive  description,  came  to  be  an  appellation,  and 
the  gatherings  of  so-called  calkers  became  a  caucus. 
This  theory  is  upset  by  the  fact  that  the  word  was 
in  familiar  use  at  least  seven  years  earlier,  for  John 
Adams  wrote  in  his  diary,  in  February,  1763: 

This  day  I  learned  that  the  caucus  club  meets  at 
certain  times  in  the  garret  of  Tom  Dawes,  the  adju- 
tant of  the  Boston  regiment.  He  has  a  large  house 
and  he  has  a  movable  partition  in  his  garret  which 
he  takes  down,  and  the  whole  club  meets  in  one 
room.  There  they  smoke  tobacco  till  you  cannot  see 
from  one  end  of  the  room  to  the  other.  There  they 
drink  flip,  I  suppose,  and  there  they  choose  a  moder- 
ator who  puts  questions  to  the  vote  regularly;  and 
selectmen,  assessors,  collectors,  wardens,  fire  wards, 
and  representatives  are  regularly  chosen  before  they 
are  chosen  in  the  town.  Uncle  Fairfield,  Story,  Rud- 
dock, Adams,  Cooper,  and  a  rudis  indigestaque  moles 
of  others  are  members.  They  send  committees  to 


AND  ELECTIONS  3 

wait  on  the  merchants'  club,  and  to  propose  in  the 
choice  of  men  and  measures.  Captain  Cunningham 
says  they  have  often  solicited  him  to  go  to  these 
caucuses,  they  have  assured  him  benefit  in  his  busi- 
ness, etc. 

Like  testimony  is  given  by  William  Gordon,  the 
English  historian  of  "The  Rise,  Progress,  and  Estab- 
lishment of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States  of 
America,"  published  in  1788.  He  writes: 

More  than  fifty  years  ago  Mr.  Samuel  Adams's 
father  and  twenty  others,  one  or  two  from  the  north 
end  of  the  town  where  all  the  ship  business  is  carried 
on,  used  to  meet,  make  a  caucus  and  lay  their  plan 
for  introducing  certain  persons  into  places  of  trust 
and  power.  When  they  had  settled  it  they  sepa- 
rated, and  each  used  his  particular  influence  within 
his  own  circle.  He  and  his  friends  would  furnish 
themselves  with  ballots,  including  the  names  of  the 
parties  fixed  upon,  which  they  distributed  on  the 
days  of  election.  By  acting  in  concert,  together  with 
a  careful  and  extensive  distribution  of  ballots,  they 
generally  carried  their  elections  to  their  own  mind. 
In  like  manner  it  was  that  Mr.  Samuel  Adams  first 
became  a  representative  for  Boston. 

These  caucuses  led  in  all  the  action  by  the  Col- 
onies which  preceded  the  Revolution.  Their  mem- 
bers called  meetings,  prepared  resolutions,  and  dis- 
seminated intelligence.  After  the  Revolution  they 
were  the  natural  leaders  in  the  town  meetings  and 
controlled  their  action  with  an  authority  that  has 


4          PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

been  surpassed  by  no  modern  political  organization 
under  the  autocratic  command  of  a  boss.  They 
were  able  to  do  this  mainly  because  of  the  limited 
suffrage  which  allowed  only  persons  possessing  a 
certain  amount  of  property  to  vote.  This  made  the 
caucus  members  the  recognized  representatives  of 
the  legal  voters  of  the  community.  Associated  with 
them  were  the  clergy,  who  still  retained  the  intellec- 
tual leadership  which  had  been  theirs  before  the 
Revolution.  They  were  a  class  apart,  and  on  pub- 
lic occasions  held  themselves  aloof  from  the  common 
people.  Goodrich,  a  Federalist  writer,  thus  describes 
a  town  meeting  in  Connecticut,  in  the  period  be- 
tween 1796  and  1810: 

Apart  in  a  pew  sat  half  a  dozen  men,  the  magnates 
of  the  town.  In  other  pews  near  by  sat  still  others, 
all  stanch  respectabilities.  These  were  the  leading 
Federalists,  persons  of  high  character,  wealth,  and 
influence.  They  spoke  a  few  words  to  each  other, 
and  then  relapsed  into  a  sort  of  dignified  silence. 
They  did  not  mingle  with  the  mass;  they  might  be 
suspected  of  electioneering.  Nevertheless,  the  Fed- 
eralists had  privately  determined,  a  few  days  before, 
for  whom  they  would  cast  their  votes,  and  being  a 
majority,  they  carried  the  day. 

The  caucus  system  was  extended  naturally  to 
Congress  and  the  State  Legislatures  after  the  adop- 
tion of  the  Constitution.  In  the  congressional  cau- 
cuses presidential  nominations  were  made,  and  in 
legislative  caucuses  State  candidates  were  selected. 


AND  ELECTIONS  5 

This  practise  dated  from  1796.  It  became  general 
in  the  following  year  and  continued  with  slight  mod- 
ifications until  1824.  During  the  closing  eight  or  ten 
years  of  its  existence  there  was  a  steadily  increas- 
ing volume  of  dissatisfaction  with  it,  based  mainly 
upon  its  unpopular  character.  The  politicians  who 
had  control  of  it  had  become  so  arrogant  that  a  new 
and  younger  body  was  gradually  formed  against 
them.  The  latter,  aided  by  the  increase  of  popu- 
lation, the  steady  growth  in  democratic  sentiment, 
and  the  enlargement  of  the  suffrage,  made  constant 
appeals  to  the  people  to  insist  upon  having  a  voice 
in  the  selection  of  candidates.  In  1824,  these  ap- 
peals had  made  such  headway  in  New  York  that  a 
call  for  a  State  nominating  convention  was  issued. 
A  proposal  for  such  a  convention  had  been  made 
in  1813,  and  again  in  1817,  but  had  not  been  ap- 
proved by  the  party  in  which  it  had  originated  and 
had  been  dropped.  Thurlow  Weed,  in  his  "  Auto- 
biography/' gives  this  account  of  the  first  nominat- 
ing convention  ever  called  together: 

It  had  been  decided  at  an  accidental  meeting  of 
[naming  six  persons  beside  himself]  that  a  State  con- 
vention consisting  of  as  many  delegates  as  there 
were  representatives  in  the  assembly,  to  be  chosen 
by  voters  opposed  to  Mr.  Crawford  for  President, 
and  in  favor  of  restoring  the  choice  of  presidential 
electors  to  the  people,  should  assemble  at  Utica  for 
the  purpose  of  nominating  candidates  for  governor 
and  lieutenant-governor.  Thus,  the  policy  of  nom- 


6          PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

inations,  emanating  directly  from  the  people,  in- 
stead of  by  legislative  caucus,  was  inaugurated.  The 
convention,  which  met  at  Utica  in  August,  1824, 
was  the  beginning  of  a  new  political  era.  The  con- 
vention was  very  fully  attended.  Most  of  the  dele- 
gates were  men  of  political  character  and  experience. 

The  new  system  spread  rapidly  to  other  States, 
what  Mr.  Weed  calls  the  "policy  of  nominations 
emanating  directly  from  the  people/'  being  too  over- 
whelmingly popular  to  be  resisted.  The  change  was 
really  a  revolt  against  as  arbitrary  and  as  undem- 
ocratic a  system  of  political  .management  as  the 
country  has  ever  known.  The  politicians  who  took 
the  lead  in  bringing  it  about  were,  like  their  species 
in  all  times,  quick  to  detect  the  trend  of  popular 
sentiment  and  to  get  in  step  with  it.  While  pro- 
fessedly yielding  to  the  people's  desires,  they  were 
already  planning  to  get  control  of  the  new  system 
for  their  own  purposes.  In  fact,  they  had  put  it 
into  operation  because  it  best  suited  their  needs  at 
the  moment.  They  had  no  hope  of  success  through 
the  legislative  caucus,  and  in  desperation  they  re- 
sorted to  the  delegate  convention,  feeling  quite  con- 
fident of  their  ability  to  control  such  a  body. 

It  is  a  quite  general  delusion  that  in  the  early 
days  of  the  republic  our  politics  were  free  from  the 
trickery  and  manipulation  which  are  so  greatly  de- 
plored as  characterizing  party  management  in  later 
times.  One  has  only  to  read  the  citations  which  I 
have  made  in  description  of  caucus  methods,  to  per- 


AND  ELECTIONS  7 

ceive  that  from  the  outset  the  American  politician 
has  been  much  the  same  sort  of  person  that  he  is 
to-day.  Those  caucuses,  as  described  by  Adams  and 
Gordon,  were  very  much  such  bodies  as  our  later 
party  bosses  gathered  about  them  and  which  con- 
stituted the  " machines."  Their  methods,  both  of 
selecting  and  of  electing  candidates,  were  much  like 
those  which  still  prevail.  Even  that  inducement  for 
entering  a  caucus — " benefit  in  his  business" — is  liv- 
ing and  active  in  our  day. 


CHAPTER  II 

FIRST  NATIONAL  CONVENTIONS 

WITH  the  advent  of  the  State  nominating  con- 
vention began  the  gradual  building  up  of  the  great 
modern  political  machine.  It  was  inevitable  that  the 
adoption  of  the  convention  system  by  the  States 
should  lead  to  its  adoption  by  the  nation,  and 
this  change  began  almost  immediately.  The  Anti- 
Masonic  party,  one  of  those  ephemeral  political 
movements  whose  birth  and  death  occur  in  a  single 
campaign,  first  set  the  example  by  holding  a  national 
convention  in  Philadelphia,  in  September,  1830,  and 
calling  a  second  convention  to  meet  in  Baltimore  a 
year  later.  The  National  Republican  party,  which 
closed  its  career  in  the  same  campaign,  was  the  first 
real  party  to  use  the  new  method,  nominating  Henry 
Clay  unanimously  in  a  convention  at  Baltimore  in 
December,  1831,  and  recommending  the  convening 
of  a  national  assembly  of  young  men  at  Washington 
in  May  of  the  following  year.  When  this  body, 
afterward  known  as  "Clay's  Inf ant-School,"  came 
together,  it  also  nominated  him  unanimously.  Gen- 
eral Jackson,  who  was  then  a  virtually  unopposed 
candidate  for  a  Democratic  renomination,  with  that 
quick  instinct  for  "  getting  close  to  the  people  "  which 
seldom  failed  him,  saw  in  the  new  method  great  ele- 

8 


PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS          9 

ments  of  popularity,  and  hastened  to  attract  them 
to  himself.  He  directed  that  a  convention  be  called 
to  nominate  a  candidate  for  the  vice-presidency  on 
a  ticket  with  himself. 

Jackson's  choice  for  the  nomination  was  Van 
Buren,  but  the  latter  was  far  from  being  a  favorite 
with  the  party,  and  for  the  purpose  of  overcoming 
opposition  to  him  Jackson  had  decided  to  resort  to 
the  convention  system.  He  had  the  convention 
called  by  instigating  the  legislature  of  New  Hamp- 
shire to  propose  it  and  the  party  press  to  commend 
the  proposal.  He  then  saw  to  it  that  most  of  the 
delegates  chosen  should  be  amenable  to  advice  from 
himself  as  to  the  proper  course  to  pursue,  and  such 
as  were  not  in  that  frame  of  mind  were  informed 
after  the  convention  assembled  that  it  would  be  well 
for  them  to  favor  Van  Buren,  "unless  they  wished 
to  quarrel  with  the  general."  As  few  were  anxious 
to  quarrel  with  that  redoubtable  personage,  he  had 
a  very  large  majority  of  the  convention  ready  to  do 
his  bidding. 

For  some  reason  which  is  not  clearly  apparent,  he 
had  the  convention  adopt  the  following  resolution, 
which  it  is  worth  while  to  cite  in  full  because  of  its 
historic  value: 

Resolved,  That  each  State  be  entitled,  in  the  nom- 
ination to  be  made  of  a  candidate  for  the  vice- 
presidency,  to  a  number  of  votes  equal  to  the  num- 
ber to  which  they  will  be  entitled  in  the  electoral 
colleges,  under  the  new  apportionment,  in  voting 


10        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

for  President  and  Vice-President;  and  that  two- 
thirds  of  the  whole  number  of  the  votes  in  the  con- 
vention shall  be  necessary  to  constitute  a  choice. 

In  the  closing  passage  of  that  resolution  appears 
the  two-thirds  rule  which  has  prevailed  in  all  Demo- 
cratic national  conventions  for  eighty  years  since 
Jackson  invented  it.  Why  he  thought  it  desirable 
to  use  it  on  that  occasion,  I  have  never  seen  stated. 
Perhaps  he  was  desirous  of  "  showing  his  power,"  as 
some  modern  politicians  have  been,  or  perhaps  he 
desired  to  "rub  it  in"  to  the  members  of  the  party 
who  had  been  so  imprudent  as  to  oppose  his  wishes. 
But  whatever  his  motive,  he  placed  a  shackle  about 
the  neck  of  his  party  in  convention  assembled  from 
which  it  has  been  trying  in  vain  ever  since  to  rid 
itself.  Repeated  efforts  have  been  made  to  set  it 
aside,  but  always  in  vain.  An  account  of  these 
efforts,  together  with  the  effect  of  the  rule  upon  the 
fortunes  of  candidates,  will  be  set  forth  in  a  separate 
chapter. 

General  Jackson 's  success  with  the  convention  sys- 
tem in  1832  encouraged  him  to  use  it  again  at  the 
end  of  his  second  term  in  order  to  secure  the  nomina- 
tion of  Van  Buren  as  his  successor.  He  began  to 
prepare  the  way  for  this  early  in  1835,  writing  to  a 
friend,  who  published  the  letter,  suggesting  the  hold- 
ing of  a  national  convention  composed  of  delegates 
"fresh  from  the  people,"  who  should  nominate  can- 
didates for  President  and  Vice-President.  Then  he 
went  to  work  in  his  usual  way  to  have  the  people 


AND  ELECTIONS  11 

elect  as  delegates  men  whom  he  could  depend  upon 
to  do  his  bidding.  The  convention  met  in  Baltimore 
in  May,  1835,  and  was  a  really  extraordinary  body. 
There  were  626  names  on  the  roll  of  delegates,  repre- 
senting twenty-two  States  and  two  Territories. 

There  were  no  delegates  from  Alabama,  Illinois, 
South  Carolina,  or  Tennessee.  Maryland  had  181, 
Virginia  108,  New  Jersey  73,  and  Pennsylvania  60. 
Tennessee  being  the  President's  own  State,  it  was 
deemed  imperative  to  have  it  represented,  and  in 
the  absence  of  an  elected  delegation,  a  citizen  of 
the  State  who  happened  to  be  in  Baltimore,  was 
admitted  to  the  convention  and  cast  the  fifteen 
votes  allotted  to  Tennessee  for  Van  Buren.  In 
fact,  so  well  had  Jackson  done  his  work  in  getting 
delegates  "fresh  from  the  people,"  that  Van  Buren 
was  nominated  unanimously.  Long  lists  of  the 
office-holders  present  were  published  in  the  opposi- 
tion press  and  made  an  imposing  exhibit.  The  op- 
position party  held  no  national  convention  in  1835, 
but  put  forward  its  candidate  in  the  old  way.  Four 
years  later,  however,  under  the  name  of  the  Whig 
party,  it  held  its  first  nominating  convention,  and 
the  methods  employed  by  its  political  leaders  showed 
that  they  were  as  eager  and  as  adept  in  operating 
the  new  system  for  their  own  purposes  as  General 
Jackson  had  been. 

This  convention  was  held  in  a  new  Lutheran 
church  in  Harrisburg,  Pa.,  in  December,  1839,  and 
it  is  a  safe  assertion  that  never  before  or  since  has  a 


12        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

house  of  God  been  made  the  scene  of  so  much  and 
so  adroit  political  manoeuvring  as  went  on  there 
for  the  purpose  of  preventing  the  nomination  of 
Henry  Clay  for  the  presidency.  The  chief  manip- 
ulator was  Thurlow  Weed,  who  appeared  there  as 
the  friend  of  Governor  Seward,  and  the  future 
member  of  the  powerful  firm  of  Seward,  Weed,  and 
Greeley.  This  firm  was,  indeed,  the  outcome  of  the 
ensuing  campaign.  Greeley  was  at  the  convention 
— "a  deeply  interested  observer,"  he  styles  himself — 
little  dreaming  that  the  campaign  which  was  to  fol- 
low would  give  him  the  opportunity  for  developing 
the  qualities  which  were  to  make  him  the  first  editor 
of  his  time,  and  lead  to  the  foundation  of  a  great 
newspaper  to  be  forever  linked  indissolubly  with  his 
name. 

Weed  went  to  the  convention  with  the  deter- 
mination of  defeating  Clay.  He  says  in  his  "Auto- 
biography" that  he  had  had  the  New  York  dele- 
gation instructed  for  Scott  to  keep  it  from  Clay, 
his  real  candidate  being  Harrison.  He  entered  into 
an  agreement  with  friends  of  Webster,  on  the  way 
to  Harrisburg  from  New  York  City,  to  act  together 
for  Clay's  defeat.  Webster  was  in  Europe  at  the 
time,  and  had  sent  word  to  his  friends  declining  to 
be  a  candidate,  primarily  because  of  Weed's  refusal 
to  support  him.  After  detailing  these  facts,  Mr. 
Weed  goes  on  to  say  that,  on  reaching  Harrisburg, 
"we  found  a  decided  plurality  in  favor  of  Mr.  Clay/' 
but  that,  "in  the  opinion  of  the  delegates  from 


AND  ELECTIONS  13 

Pennsylvania  and  New  York,  Mr.  Clay  could  not 
carry  either  of  those  States,  and  without  them  he 
could  not  be  elected."  Mr.  Weed  makes  no  men- 
tion of  the  plan  which  was  arranged  for  preventing 
Clay's  success,  but  he  has  always  been  suspected 
of  having  intimate  knowledge  of  it,  if  he  was  not  its 
author.  It  was  proposed  to  the  convention  by  a 
member  of  the  Massachusetts  delegation,  in  the 
form  of  a  rule  directing  each  delegation,  to  take 
informal  ballots  as  to  candidates  until  a  majority 
should  be  recorded  for  some  one  candidate,  upon 
which  a  report  of  the  result  should  be  made  to  the 
convention,  and  the  vote  of  the  majority  of  each 
delegation  should  be  reported  as  the  vote  of  that 
State. 

This  was  the  origin  of  the  "unit  rule,"  which 
has  since  been  used  in  Democratic  conventions  in 
conjunction  with  the  "two-thirds  rule."  The  effect 
of  this  rule  was  the  defeat  of  Clay  and  the  nomi- 
nation of  Harrison.  Weed  admits  a  bargain  in  favor 
of  Harrison  with  the  friends  both  of  Webster  and 
of  Scott,  and  says  the  "final  vote  was  intentionally 
delayed  by  the  friends  of  the  stronger  candidate 
(Harrison)  for  twenty-four  hours"  in  order  to  placate 
the  angry  friends  of  Clay,  "whose  disappointment 
and  vexation  found  excited  expression." 

Greeley,  in  his  "Recollections  of  a  Busy  Life," 
makes  frank  admission  of  the  plot,  saying: 

Governor  Seward,  who  was  in  Albany  (there  were 
no  telegraphs  in  those  days),  and  Mr.  Weed,  who  was 


14        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

present,  and  very  influential  in  producing  the  result, 
were  strongly  blamed  by  the  ardent,  uncalculating 
supporters  of  Mr.  Clay,  as  having  cheated  him  out 
of  the  nomination — I  could  never  see  with  what 
reason.  They  judged  that  he  could  not  be  chosen, 
if  nominated,  while  another  could  be,  and  acted 
accordingly.  If  politics  does  not  meditate  the 
achievement  of  beneficent  ends  through  the  choice 
and  use  of  the  safest  and  most  effective  means,  I 
wholly  misapprehend  it. 

This  somewhat  Jesuitical  view  did  not  strike  Clay 
and  his  friends  as  justifying  the  methods  by  which 
an  admitted  majority  of  the  convention  had  been 
prevented  from  expressing  its  will.  John  Tyler  of 
Virginia,  one  of  Clay's  most  ardent  friends  in  the 
convention,  was  so  overcome  with  grief  at  Harrison's 
nomination  that  he  shed  tears;  and  after  several 
unavailing  efforts  to  get  some  one  else  to  take  the 
nomination  for  Vice-President,  Tyler  was  named  for 
it,  his  tears  having  convinced  the  convention  that 
the  placing  of  so  devoted  a  friend  of  Clay  on  the 
ticket  would  go  far  to  heal  the  wounds  that  the 
methods  of  the  convention  had  caused. 

But  Weed  and  his  associates  were  not  the  only 
intriguers.  Some  of  Scott's  supporters  were  loyal 
to  him  and  made  a  strong  effort  to  have  him  nom- 
inated when  Clay's  defeat  was  assured.  The  Vir- 
ginia delegation  were  for  either  Harrison  or  Scott, 
since  both  were  natives  of  their  State,  and  were 
hesitating  between  the  two.  Colonel  A.  K.  Mc- 
Clure,  in  his  book  on  "Our  Presidents  and  How  We 


AND  ELECTIONS  15 

Make  Them/'  gives  this  account  of  the  manner  in 
which  they  were  turned  from  Scott: 

It  was  at  this  stage  of  the  contest  that  Thaddeus 
Stevens,  who  was  the  leading  delegate  from  Pennsyl- 
vania, controlled  the  Virginia  delegation  by  a  scheme 
that  was  more  effective  than  creditable.  Scott,  who 
was  quite  too  fond  of  writing  letters,  had  written  a 
letter  to  Francis  Granger,  of  New  York,  in  which  he 
evidently  sought  to  conciliate  the  antislavery  sen- 
timent of  that  State.  It  was  a  private  letter,  but 
Granger  exhibited  it  to  Stevens  and  permitted  Ste- 
vens to  use  it  in  his  own  way.  As  the  headquarters 
of  the  Virginia  delegation  were  the  centre  of  attrac- 
tion they  were  always  crowded,  and  Stevens  called 
there  along  with  many  others.  Before  leaving  he 
dropped  the  Scott  letter  on  the  floor,  and  it  was 
soon  discovered  and  its  contents  made  known  to 
the  Virginians.  That  letter  decided  the  Virginians 
to  support  Harrison  and  to  reject  Scott.  Either 
could  have  been  elected  if  nominated,  as  the  Van 
Buren  defeat  of  1840  was  one  of  the  most  sweeping 
political  hurricanes  in  the  history  of  the  country. 
My  authority  for  this  is  Mr.  Stevens  himself. 


CHAPTER  III 
THE  FIRST  "DARK  HORSE" 

THE  Democratic  convention  of  1844  is  memorable 
for  several  reasons.  It  was  the  first  convention  to 
develop  a  "dark  horse,"  the  first  to  bring  about  a 
nomination  by  means  of  a  "stampede,"  and  the 
first  to  have  its  proceedings  reported  by  telegraph. 
Van  Buren,  who  had  been  President,  and  who  had 
been  defeated  in  1840  by  Harrison,  was  the  leading 
candidate,  and  had  a  majority  of  twenty-six  in  the 
convention.  Eight  ballots  were  taken  without  re- 
sult, and  a  great  deal  of  bad  feeling  was  springing  up 
between  the  supporters  of  Van  Buren  and  his  chief 
competitor,  General  Cass.  On  the  eighth  ballot 
forty-four  votes  were  cast  for  James  K.  Polk,  who 
had  been  mentioned  modestly  up  to  that  time  as  a 
possible  nominee  for  Vice-President.  His  name  came 
before  the  convention  at  the  moment  when  the  war- 
fare between  the  rival  factions  was  at  its  hottest 
point.  A  delegate  from  Pennsylvania  was  the  first 
to  break  away  from  instructions  to  vote  for  Van 
Buren.  He  was  denounced  for  his  action  and  in 
defending  it  he  said  he  had  voted  for  Van  Buren  on 
three  ballots,  but  finding  that  he  was  not  the  choice 
of  the  convention  he  had  voted  for  Mr.  Buchanan. 
Finding  that  Mr.  Buchanan  could  not  succeed,  he 

16 


PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS        17 

had  cast  his  vote  for  James  K.  Polk,  "the  bosom 
friend  of  General  Jackson,  and  a  pure,  whole-hogged 
Democrat." 

A  flood  of  lurid  oratory  was  then  turned  upon  the 
convention.  A  delegate  from  New  York,  disturbed 
by  a  passion  which  wrought  sad  confusion  among 
his  metaphors,  charged  that  a  firebrand  had  been 
thrown  into  their  company  by  the  mongrel  admin- 
istration at  Washington.  That  firebrand  was  the 
abominable  Texas  question;  but  that  question,  like 
a  fever,  would  wear  itself  out  or  kill  the  patient. 
Nero  had  fiddled  while  Rome  was  burning,  and  this 
question  had  been  put  in  agitation  for  the  especial 
purpose  of  advancing  the  aspiring  ambition  of  a 
man  who,  he  doubted  not,  was  now  probably  fiddling 
while  Rome  was  falling.  Challenged  to  reveal  the 
identity  of  the  fiddling  Nero,  he  refused  to  do  so. 
Several  voices  cried,  "John  Tyler!"  and  one  de- 
clared: "We  have  three  Neros !"  Great  uproar  fol- 
lowed, and  when  the  man  who  had  made  the  original 
charge  left  the  hall  he  was  accused  of  "throwing  a 
firebrand,  and  then  meanly  skulking  from  the  room." 
A  storm  of  hisses  and  groans  followed,  with  earnest 
demands  from  time  to  time  for  the  name  of  the  fid- 
dling Nero.  In  the  midst  of  the  din  a  delegate  from 
New  Hampshire  arose,  and  begged  to  appear  before 
the  convention  as  the  "apostle  of  harmony."  His 
State  had  presented  to  the  convention  the  name  of 
its  "  favorite  son,"  but  in  the  interest  of  harmony  she 
withdrew  it  and  presented  that  of  James  K.  Polk. 


18        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

A  delegate  from  Maryland,  in  a  voice  trembling  with 
emotion,  said  that  "one  million  people  are  looking 
with  anxiety  to  this  convention,  and  if  their  voices 
could  be  concentrated  they  would  demand  a  nom- 
ination irrespective  of  party  faction."  Therefore, 
Maryland  would  cast  her  vote  for  James  K.  Polk. 
The  " stampede"  now  began  to  move.  An  editor 
from  Ohio,  who  was  a  delegate,  said  that  he  was 
ready  to  make  any  sacrifice  for  union  and  harmony; 
that  he  was  a  friend  of  Texas  (the  annexation  of 
Texas  was  the  "firebrand"  alluded  to),  and  that, 
"  should  the  convention  give  Ohio  a  candidate  in 
favor  of  this  object,  he  would  pledge  that  the  Lone 
Star  should  be  blazoned  on  the  Democratic  standard 
in  Ohio,  and  they  would  lead  on  to  a  certain  victory." 
(Tremendous  cheering.) 

The  ninth  ballot  was  begun  while  the  convention 
was  at  this  pitch  of  harmony  and  enthusiasm.  State 
after  State  gave  its  solid  vote  to  Polk.  The  New 
York  delegation  retired  for  consultation.  While 
they  were  out  the  ballot  proceeded  till  Virginia  was 
reached.  The  chairman  said  that  Virginia  resigned 
her  first  choice,  Mr.  Van  Buren,  "with  a  bleeding 
heart,"  but  that  her  chief  desire  was  to  "defeat  that 
apostate,  Henry  Clay,  with  a  tail  twenty  years  long 
and  a  pack  of  hungry  expectants  of  twenty  years7 
standing  dragging  after  it;  to  defeat  that  man  Vir- 
ginia yields,  and  places  her  heart  upon  the  altar  of 
her  country  and  her  principles."  This  remarkable 
specimen  of  convention  oratory — which  finds  an 


Reproduced  by  courtesy  of  The  Century  Cc 


The  crush  at  the  White  House  after  Jackson's  inauguration. 


AND  ELECTIONS  19 

echo  in  much  of  the  latter-day  contribution  to  that 
portion  of  our  political  literature — hit  the  New  York 
delegation  squarely  in  the  face  as  it  returned  to  the 
hall  with  one  Benjamin  F.  Butler  in  its  front. 

Mr.  Butler  " responded  with  all  his  heart"  to 
the  noble  words  of  the  gentleman  from  Virginia, 
and,  acting  in  accordance  with  a  private  letter  from 
Mr.  Van  Buren,  took  the  "responsibility  of  with- 
drawing that  honored  name  in  the  best  interests  of 
the  Democratic  party."  He  begged  leave  to  add 
that  it  had  been  his  privilege  recently  to  spend 
"some  happy  days  under  the  same  roof  with  the 
venerable  patriot,  Jackson,  at  the  Hermitage,"  where 
he  had  found  him  "with  one  eye  intent  on  his  final 
home,  to  which  he  was  doubtless  rapidly  gliding, 
and  with  the  other  fixed  on  his  country  and  her 
hopes  of  prosperity."  While  occupying  this  trying 
position,  the  venerable  Jackson  had  conveyed  to  Mr. 
Butler  the  fact  that  Van  Buren  was  his  "first  choice," 
and  that  he  viewed  the  possible  failure  to  nominate 
him  with  "despondency";  still,  Mr.  Butler  had  re- 
ceived a  letter  from  him  since  the  convention  had 
been  in  session,  containing  a  postscript  with  this 
pious  message  to  the  delegates:  "May  God  bless  you, 
my  dear  friends,  and  may  he  guide  all  the  delibera- 
tions of  the  convention,  leading  them  in  union  and 
harmony  to  act  for  the  best  interests  of  my  beloved 
country."  That  completed  the  work.  The  "stam- 
pede" went  on  till  every  vote  was  recorded  for  Polk, 
and  the  first  "dark  horse"  crossed  the  line  a  winner, 


20        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

amid  "indescribable  enthusiasm."  That  there  was 
a  carefully  laid  plot  behind  this  "spontaneous" 
movement  was  quite  generally  suspected.  In  com- 
menting upon  the  outcome,  the  New  York  Evening 
Post,  which  supported  Folk's  candidacy  later,  said: 

We  believe  that  if  the  secret  history  of  the  con- 
vention, from  the  adoption  of  the  two-thirds  rule 
through  its  various  proceedings,  could  be  written,  a 
large  number  of  the  delegates  would  stand  disgraced 
in  the  eyes  of  their  constituents. 

For  second  place  on  the  ticket  the  convention,  by 
nearly  a  unanimous  vote,  nominated  Silas  Wright  of 
New  York,  hoping  thereby  to  placate  the  disap- 
pointed supporters  of  Van  Buren.  Mr.  Wright  was 
at  the  time  a  member  of  the  Senate  at  Washington. 
As  I  said  at  the  beginning  of  this  chapter,  this  con- 
vention was  the  first  to  have  its  proceedings  reported 
by  telegraph.  Congress  had  only  a  short  time  be- 
fore appropriated  $30,000  to  test  Morse's  invention. 
A  wire  had  been  run  between  Washington  and  Balti- 
more and  communication  opened  three  days  before 
the  convention  met.  Messages  of  congratulation 
had  been  sent,  the  first  being  "What  hath  God 
wrought !"  But  the  first  practical  use  of  the  inven- 
tion was  to  give  Congress  the  news  of  this  conven- 
tion's doings.  "Every  half  hour,"  says  Schouler  in 
his  "History  of  the  United  States,"  "the  strange 
little  machine  at  the  east  end  of  the  Capitol  reported 
the  progress  of  meetings  held  forty  miles  away,  and 


AND  ELECTIONS  21 

written  bulletins  posted  up  on  the  wall  of  the  rotunda 
gave  quick  intelligence  of  the  news." 

Senator  Wright  was  thus  the  first  man  to  re- 
ceive and  decline  a  nomination  to  office  by  electric 
telegraph.  He  was  also  the  first  man  in  our  history 
to  decline  a  nomination  for  Vice-President  by  a 
great  political  party  after  the  nomination  had  been 
made.  It  is  extremely  probable  that  had  there  been 
no  electric  telegraph,  he  would  have  accepted  the 
nomination  and  been  elected.  He  was  indignant  at 
the  moment  at  what  he  believed  to  have  been  a  base 
betrayal  of  Van  Buren,  and  telegraphed  a  positive 
refusal  to  accept. 


CHAPTER  IV 

CLAY'S  BITTERNESS  IN  DEFEAT 

No  one  can  examine  the  records  of  presidential 
conventions,  with  their  personal  successes  and  fail- 
ures, and  easily  escape  the  conviction  that  there  is 
far  more  of  tragedy  than  comedy  in  our  national 
politics.  There  are  touches  of  humor  here  and 
there,  but  the  dominant  note  is  that  of  pathos.  Be- 
hind many  a  great  success  there  is  to  be  seen  the 
sombre  shadow  of  bitter  disappointment,  of  wrecked 
ambition,  of  lifelong  hopes  in  ruins.  As  one  pursues 
through  biography,  autobiography,  and  memoir,  the 
personal  history  of  the  chief  figures  in  the  conven- 
tions that  have  been  held  during  the  eighty  years 
which  have  passed  since  that  method  of  nominating 
presidential  candidates  came  into  use,  he  finds  it 
almost  invariably  ending  in  sadness  and  gloom. 
Scarcely  one  of  those  seeking  the  presidency  with 
most  persistence  has  succeeded  in  getting  possession 
of  that  great  office,  and  few  of  them,  when  final  fail- 
ure has  come,  have  shown  themselves  able  to  bear 
the  blow  with  fortitude. 

Clay's  rage  at  the  outcome  of  the  Harrisburg  con- 
vention in  1839  was  unbounded.  He  had  been 
assuming  in  the  Senate  a  lofty  indifference  to  the 

presidency,  his  famous  saying,  "I  would  rather  be 

22 


PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS        23 

right  than  be  President/'  having  been  made  public 
only  a  short  time  before  the  convention  met.  There 
was  nobody  in  the  Senate  at  that  time  of  sufficiently 
nimble  wit  to  think  of  the  biting  retort  which  Speaker 
Reed,  many  years  later,  made  to  a  congressman, 
who,  for  the  thousandth  time,  was  strutting  about 
in  Clay's  cast-off  garments :  "  Don't  give  yourself  the 
slightest  uneasiness;  you'll  never  be  either."  But 
Clay  had  given  himself  great  uneasiness,  for  he  was 
most  desirous  of  the  nomination.  He  had  been  a 
candidate  eight  years  earlier,  when  he  had  no  chance 
of  election,  and  he  believed  firmly  now  that  if  nom- 
inated he  could  be  elected.  He  had  protested  at  the 
last  moment  against  the  arrangements  of  the  con- 
vention, saying  they  had  been  made  with  the  object 
of  excluding  him.  When  the  news  of  Harrison's 
nomination  reached  him  in  Washington,  he  lost  all 
control  of  himself.  Henry  A.  Wise,  who  was  with 
him  at  the  time,  thus  describes  the  scene: 

He  had  been  drinking  heavily  in  the  excitement  of 
expectation.  He  rose  from  his  chair  and,  walking 
backward  and  forward  rapidly,  lifting  his  feet  like  a 
horse  string-halted  in  both  legs,  stamped  his  steps 
upon  the  floor,  exclaiming:  "My  friends  are  not 
worth  the  powder  and  shot  it  would  take  to  kill 
them.  It  is  a  diabolical  intrigue,  I  know  now,  which 
has  betrayed  me.  I  am  the  most  unfortunate  man 
in  the  history  of  parties — always  run  by  my  friends 
when  sure  to  be  defeated,  and  now  betrayed  for  a 
nomination  when  I,  or  any  one,  would  be  sure  of  an 
election." 


24        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

He  had  promised,  in  a  letter  to  the  Kentucky 
delegation  which  was  read  to  the  convention  after 
Harrison's  nomination,  that,  in  case  it  were  thought 
wise  to  nominate  some  other  person  than  himself, 
to  give  the  nominee  his  best  wishes  and  cordial  sup- 
port. This  pledge  he  kept,  taking  the  stump  for 
Harrison,  but  carefully  freeing  himself  from  all  re- 
sponsibility for  the  latter 's  course  in  office.  "I  do 
not  pretend/ '  he  said  in  his  first  speech,  "to  an- 
nounce the  purposes  of  the  new  President,  of  which 
I  have  no  knowledge  other  than  that  accessible  to 
every  citizen.  I  speak  only  for  myself."  After  elec- 
tion, Harrison  offered  Clay  a  place  in  his  Cabinet, 
but  the  latter  declined  on  the  ground  that  he  desired 
to  be  independent  in  his  political  course  and  pre- 
ferred to  remain  in  the  Senate. 

His  angry  complaint  in  1839  that  he  was  the  most 
unfortunate  of  men  in  that  he  was  always  run  for 
the  presidency  when  he  was  sure  to  be  defeated  and 
betrayed  by  his  friends  when  if  nominated  he  was 
sure  to  be  elected,  was  strangely  confirmed  by  events. 
He  was  nominated  unanimously  by  the  Whig  party 
in  1844,  amid  scenes  of  unbounded  enthusiasm  and 
with  most  confident  anticipations  of  victory.  When 
defeat  came,  he  and  his  party  with  him  were  fairly 
stunned  by  it. 

Carl  Schurz  says  in  his  "Life  of  Clay": 

The  Whigs  broke  out  in  a  wail  of  agony  all  over 
the  land.  The  descriptions  we  have  of  the  grief 
manifested  are  almost  incredible.  Tears  flowed  in 


Reproduced  by  courtesy  of  The  Century  Co. 


The  Harrison-Tippecanoe  inauguration  parade. 


AND  ELECTIONS  25 

abundance  from  the  eyes  of  men  and  women.  In 
the  cities  and  villages  the  business  places  were  almost 
deserted  for  a  day  or  two,  people  gathering  together 
in  groups  to  discuss  in  low  tones  what  had  happened. 
Neither  did  the  victorious  Democrats  indulge  in  the 
usual  demonstrations  of  triumph.  There  was  a  feel- 
ing as  if  a  great  wrong  had  been  done.  Many  de- 
spaired of  the  republic,  sincerely  believing  that  the 
experiment  of  popular  government  had  failed  for- 
ever. 

It  was  inevitable  that  Clay  himself  should  share 
these  gloomy  views.  He  took  his  defeat  very  much 
to  heart,  saying  in  a  letter  to  a  friend: 

The  late  blow  that  has  fallen  upon  our  country  is 
very  heavy.  I  hope  that  she  may  recover  from  it, 
but  I  confess  that  the  prospect  ahead  is  dark  and  dis- 
couraging. I  am  afraid  that  it  will  be  yet  a  long 
time,  if  ever,  that  the  people  recover  from  the  cor- 
rupting influences  and  effects  of  Jacksonism.  I 
pray  God  to  give  them  a  happy  deliverance. 

Clay  was  nearly  seventy-one  years  of  age  when  he 
made  his  final  effort  to  obtain  the  presidency.  His 
defeat  in  1844  had  been  followed  by  extraordinary 
manifestations  of  popular  affection.  He  had  been 
f or'several  years  burdened  with  a  steadily  accumulat- 
ing mass  of  debt,  including  a  heavy  mortgage  upon 
his  home,  Ashland.  He  was  considering  whether  he 
must  not  part  with  this  cherished  abode  when  he 
was  surprised  with  the  information  that  all  his  debts 
had  been  paid.  When  he  asked  who  had  done  this, 


26        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

he  could  learn  only  that  the  benefactors  were  un- 
known, but  they  were  presumably  not  his  enemies. 
He  hesitated  for  some  time  as  to  the  propriety  of 
accepting  the  gift,  but  when  his  friends  assured  him 
that  since  he  could  not  discover  the  donors  he  could 
not  return  their  money,  and  since  their  money  had 
discharged  obligations,  he  could  not  force  the  renewal 
of  his  debts,  he  decided  to  accept.  During  the  in- 
tervening years  between  his  defeat  and  the  assem- 
bling of  the  Whig  convention  of  1848,  he  lived  in 
retirement  at  Ashland,  receiving  so  constantly 
marked  evidences  of  the  popular  esteem  in  which  he 
was  held  as  to  leave  no  cause  for  doubting  that  he 
was  as  strong  with  his  party  as  he  had  ever  been. 
The  first  shock  to  his  sense  of  security  came  with 
the  popular  demonstrations  which  followed  the  vic- 
tories achieved  by  General  Taylor  in  the  Mexican 
War.  When  talk  of  Taylor  for  the  presidency  began 
to  come  out  of  these  demonstrations,  Clay  was  ex- 
tremely annoyed,  and  when  a  Taylor  movement 
started  in  Kentucky  itself,  he  became  anxious  and 
even  fretful.  "Why  is  it,"  he  wrote  to  a  friend, 
"after  the  long  period  of  time  during  which  I  have 
had  the  happiness  to  enjoy  the  friendship  and  confi- 
dence of  that  State,  what  have  I  done,  it  is  inquired, 
to  lose  it?"  When  the  convention  assembled  and  a 
majority  of  the  Kentucky  delegation  voted  for  Tay- 
lor's nomination  and  thus  led  the  way  to  his  selection 
on  the  fourth  ballot,  Clay's  mortification  was  more 
acute  than  it  had  been  eight  years  earlier  when 


AND  ELECTIONS  27 

another  "war  hero"  had  been  preferred  to  him,  for 
on  this  second  occasion  his  own  State  had  joined  in 
his  humiliation,  or  as  he  considered  it,  his  betrayal 
by  his  friends.  Curiously  enough,  the  political  leader 
who  had  done  most  on  both  occasions  to  defeat  Clay 
was  Thurlow  Weed  of  New  York,  who  was  acting  in 
each  instance  on  his  pet  doctrine  of  availability. 

The  limit  of  Clay's  patience  and  magnanimity  had 
been  reached.  He  refused  to  support  Taylor,  saying 
he  would  do  nothing  against  him  or  anything  to 
help  him,  and  adding: 

Ought  I,  to  come  out  as  a  warm  and  partisan 
supporter  of  a  candidate  who,  in  a  reversal  of  our 
conditions,  announced  his  purpose  to  remain  a  can- 
didate, and  consequently  to  oppose  me,  so  far  as  it 
depended  upon  himself?  Tell  me,  what  reciprocity 
is  this?  Magnanimity  is  a  noble  virtue,  and  I  have 
always  endeavored  to  practise  it ;  but  it  has  its  limits, 
and  the  line  of  demarcation  between  it  and  mean- 
ness is  not  always  discernible.  I  think  my  friends 
ought  to  leave  me  quiet  and  undisturbed  in  my  re- 
tirement. My  race  is  run.  During  the  short  time 
that  remains  to  me  in  this  world  I  desire  to  preserve 
untarnished  that  character  which  so  many  have  done 
me  the  honor  to  respect  and  esteem. 


CHAPTER  V 

WEBSTER'S  LONG  AND  HOPELESS  QUEST 

MR.  WEBSTER  was  an  eager  candidate  for  a  presi- 
dential nomination  for  twenty  years.  The  "bee" 
began  to  buzz  in  his  bonnet  immediately  after  his 
famous  speech  in  reply  to  Hayne,  in  January,  1830. 
"Before  the  delivery  of  that  speech,"  says  Henry 
Cabot  Lodge,  in  his  "Life  of  Webster,"  "he  was  a 
distinguished  statesman,  but  the  day  after  he  awoke 
to  a  national  fame  which  made  all  his  other  triumphs 
pale.  The  reply  made  him  a  presidential  candidate, 
and  from  that  moment  he  was  never  free  from  the 
gnawing,  haunting  ambition  to  win  the  grand  prize 
of  American  public  life."  He  sought  it  earnestly  in 
1832,  but  his  best  friends  in  his  own  party  told  him 
that  he  had  no  chance  of  winning  it  as  against  Clay, 
and  he  acquiesced  in  their  decision.  The  defeat  of 
Clay  in  the  campaign  of  that  year  convinced  Web- 
ster that  he  was  the  inevitable  candidate  for  1836, 
since  his  most  formidable  rival  had  been  removed 
from  the  field.  The  legislature  of  Massachusetts 
nominated  him  for  the  office,  but  the  movement 
began  and  ended  there.  No  other  State  took  it  up, 
and  General  Harrison  was  made  the  Whig  candi- 
date. 

Webster's  failure  did  not  in  the  slightest  degree 

28 


PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS        29 

diminish  his  zeal  or  chill  his  hope  of  ultimate  suc- 
cess. He  was  as  eager  and  sanguine  a  candidate 
as  ever  in  1839.  Thurlow  Weed  called  upon  him  in 
Washington  in  the  spring  of  that  year,  and  Webster 
said  to  him:  "I  think  I  shall  be  the  Whig  candidate/' 
Weed  expressed  doubt,  and  when  Webster  asked 
who  would  be  the  candidate,  replied:  "It  looks  to 
me  like  Harrison."  Whereupon  Webster  exclaimed: 
"You  are  misinformed.  The  party  will  choose  a 
man  with  larger  civic  experience,  who  is  better 
adapted  to  the  place."  To  this  Weed  replied  that 
the  real  question  was:  "Who  will  poll  the  most 
votes?"  He  then  asked  Webster  if  he  would  con- 
sent to  be  the  nominee  for  Vice-President  on  the 
ticket  with  Harrison,  but  "Webster  would  not  listen 
to  this." 

The  legislature  of  Massachusetts  again  brought 
Webster  forward,  but  no  response  came  from  any 
other  State,  even  in  New  England.  Harrison 
was  nominated.  Webster  supported  him  heartily, 
speaking  to  enthusiastic  audiences  in  all  parts  of 
the  country,  for  he  was  incomparably  the  favorite 
orator  of  his  party  and  of  his  time,  and  accept- 
ing Harrison's  offer  of  the  position  of  secretary  of 
state  after  election.  He  composed  for  Harrison  an 
inaugural  address  which  the  latter  declined  to  use, 
saying  that  the  people  would  know  it  was  not  his, 
but  Webster's,  and  he  thought  it  best  to  give  them 
the  one  which  he  had  prepared  himself.  He  sub- 
mitted this  to  Webster  for  revision.  It  had  a  great 


30        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

deal  in  it  about  the  Roman  republic  and  proconsuls, 
and  Webster  spent  nearly  an  entire  day  over  it.  His 
friend,  Peter  Harvey,  says  in  his  "  Reminiscences," 
that  when  Webster  returned  to  his  home,  late  for 
dinner,  his  wife,  struck  with  his  worried  and  tired 
look,  said  she  hoped  nothing  had  happened,  and 
that  Webster  replied:  "You  would  think  something 
had  happened  if  you  knew  what  I  have  done.  I  have 
killed  seventeen  proconsuls  as  dead  as  smelts,  every 
one  of  them." 

Webster  remained  in  Tyler's  Cabinet  as  secretary 
of  state,  after  Harrison's  death,  till  May,  1843, 
when  he  resigned  and  retired  to  his  farm  at  Marsh- 
field.  He  declared  that  he  was  not  a  candidate  for 
the  presidential  nomination  of  1844  and  refused  to 
permit  New  Hampshire  to  bring  his  name  forward. 
The  Whigs  were  again  united  and  enthusiastic  for 
Clay.  Tyler's  treachery  to  the  party,  as  it  was 
called,  had  revived  all  its  former  enthusiasm  for 
Clay  and  had  silenced  all  internal  opposition  to  him. 
Greeley  says  in  his  "Recollections": 

John  Tyler  succeeded  General  Harrison  in  the 
presidency.  He  was  called  a  Whig  when  elected 
Vice-President;  I  think  he  never  called  himself,  nor 
wished  others  to  call  him  so,  from  the  day  on  which 
he  stepped  into  our  dead  President's  shoes.  At  all 
events,  he  contrived  soon  to  quarrel  with  the  great 
body  of  those  whose  efforts  and  votes  had  borne  him 
into  power.  If  he  cried  at  Harrisburg  over  Mr.  Clay's 
defeat,  Mr.  Clay's  friends  had  abundant  reason  to 
cry  ever  afterward  over  Tyler's  success  there. 


AND  ELECTIONS  31 

Webster  supported  Clay  as  heartily  as  he  had 
supported  Harrison  four  years  earlier,  and  in  the 
following  winter  Massachusetts  re-elected  him  to 
the  Senate.  He  still  had  his  eye  fixed  unswervingly 
and  confidently  upon  the  presidency  and  was  con- 
vinced a  second  time  that  Clay's  defeat  had  cleared 
the  way  for  his  own  nomination.  Thurlow  Weed 
visited  him  again,  as  he  had  done  eight  years  earlier, 
this  time  at  Marshfield.  Webster  greeted  him  with 
the  inquiry :  "  Well,  how  do  things  look  now  ?  I  sup- 
pose the  question  still  is:  'Who  will  poll  the  most 
votes?'"  "Yes,"  replied  Weed,  "and  that  man  is 
General  Taylor,  who  will  be  the  next  President." 
Webster  broke  out  in  contemptuous  surprise:  "Why, 
Taylor  is  an  illiterate  frontier  colonel,  who  hasn't 
voted  for  forty  years !"  Weed  insisted  that  Taylor 
was  the  man,  and  again  asked  Webster  to  take  second 
place;  but  Webster  again  refused,  saying:  "I  shall 
remain  in  the  field  as  a  candidate  for  President.  I 
am  not  a  candidate  for  any  other  place." 

The  task  of  supporting  General  Taylor  was  even 
more  difficult  for  Webster  than  that  of  supporting 
General  Harrison  had  been.  Indeed,  it  was  too  diffi- 
cult for  him  to  master  it  entirely,  for  while  coming 
finally  to  the  advocacy  of  his  election,  on  the  ground 
that  Taylor's  opponents  were  less  worthy  than  he 
was,  he  made  no  concealment  of  his  contempt  for 
him.  In  a  speech  at  Marshfield,  some  time  after 
the  nomination,  he  used  several  phrases  which  not 
only  echoed  and  re-echoed  throughout  the  cam- 


32        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

paign,  but  have  survived  to  the  present  day.  "That 
sagacious,  wise,  far-seeing  doctrine  of  availability," 
he  said,  with  Thurlow  Weed's  repeated  objection  to 
his  own  candidacy  obviously  in  his  mind,  "lies  at 
the  bottom  of  the  whole  matter.  General  Taylor 
has  been  nominated  fairly,  as  far  as  I  know,  and  I 
cannot,  therefore,  and  shall  not,  oppose  his  election. 
At  the  same  time  there  is  no  man  who  is  more  firmly 
of  the  opinion  that  such  a  nomination  was  not  fit 
to  be  made."  Naturally,  the  opposing  parties,  for 
there  were  three  candidates  in  that  campaign — Tay- 
lor, Van  Buren,  and  Cass — made  the  most  of  the 
phrase  "a  nomination  not  fit  to  be  made,"  and  it 
played  a  very  p/ominent  part  in  the  canvass. 

Webster  wrote  to  a  friend  who  commended  the 
speech  that  there  were  many  of  their  party  associates 
who  would  not  like  it,  adding:  "They  think  General 
Taylor  is  a  miracle  of  a  man,  knowing  everything 
without  having  had  the  opportunity  of  learning  it, 
and  the  fittest  man  in  the  world,  by  a  sort  of  inspira- 
tion, to  administer  a  constitutional  government  and 
discharge  the  highest  civil  trusts."  Yet  Taylor  was 
elected,  as  Harrison  had  been;  and  as  Mr.  Weed 
points  out  in  his  "Autobiography,"  if  Webster  had 
humbled  his  pride  and  had  accepted  second  place 
with  either  of  these  two  men,  he  would  have  realized 
his  cherished  desire  of  being  President,  for  each  died 
before  the  expiration  of  his  term. 

Webster's  final  appearance  as  a  candidate  was  in 
1852.  So  great  was  his  infatuation  that  he  did  not 


Reproduced  by  courtesy  of  The  Century  C 


The  approach  to  the  Capitol  during  Folk's  inauguration. 


AND  ELECTIONS  33 

perceive  that  he  had  far  less  chance  of  success  than 
ever.  He  had  alienated  completely  and  hopelessly 
a  great  body  of  his  Northern  supporters  by  his 
famous  7th  of  March  speech  on  the  Wilmot  Proviso. 
In  their  opinion,  he  had  abandoned  his  advocacy  of 
human  freedom,  and  had  become  not  merely  the 
apologist  for  but  the  defender  of  slavery.  As  Mr. 
Lodge  says: 

He  was  wholly  out  of  the  race  and  his  last 
hour  was  near,  but  he  himself  regarded  the  great 
prize  as  at  last  surely  within  his  grasp.  There  was 
absolutely  no  one  who  in  fame,  ability,  public 
services,  and  experience  could  be  compared  for  one 
moment  with  Mr.  Webster.  The  opportunity  was 
obvious  enough;  it  awakened  all  Mr.  Webster's 
hopes,  and  excited  the  ardor  of  his  friends.  A  formal 
and  recognized  movement,  such  as  had  never  before 
been  made,  was  set  on  foot  to  promote  his  candi- 
dacy. 

Before  the  time  for  the  convention  to  meet  had 
arrived,  his  friends  became  convinced  that  he 
had  no  chance.  Rufus  Choate,  who  was  to  be  his 
spokesman  and  the  leader  of  the  Webster  delegates 
in  the  convention,  went  to  Washington  the  day 
before  it  was  to  assemble  to  tell  him  the  sad  truth 
in  the  matter,  but  he  found  him  so  strong  in  the 
belief  that  he  would  be  nominated  that  it  seemed 
cruel  to  undeceive  him,  and  he  made  no  attempt  to 
do  so.  On  the  day  the  convention  met  Webster 
wrote  to  a  friend:  "What  may  take  place  to-day, 


34        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

in  Baltimore,  I  know  not;  but  of  one  thing,  my 
dear  sir,  you  may  be  assured,  that  is,  that  I  shall 
meet  the  result,  whatever  it  may  be,  with  a  com- 
posed mind." 

Choate  made  a  speech  of  great  eloquence  in  his 
behalf  and  everything  that  loyal  friends  could  do 
for  him  was  done,  but  his  nomination  was  hopeless 
from  the  start.  His  highest  vote  was  32  in  a  total 
of  293,  and  after  forty-five  ballots  had  been  taken 
General  Scott  began  to  gain  and  was  nominated  on 
the  fifty-third.  Webster's  "composed  mind"  failed 
him  when  the  news  of  the  result  reached  him.  The 
faithful  Peter  Harvey,  who  was  at  the  convention, 
which  sat  in  Baltimore,  went  directly  to  Webster's 
house  in  Washington  after  Scott  had  been  nomi- 
nated. Webster  met  him  at  the  door  "with  an  ex- 
pression of  grief,"  but  said  not  a  word  as  to  the 
result,  merely  asking  for  Mr.  Choate.  The  latter 
arrived  later,  and  the  family  sat  down  to  tea.  Still 
not  a  word  was  uttered  by  any  one  about  the  con- 
vention. 

Webster  and  Choate  were  closeted  for  an  hour 
later,  and  then  Choate  departed  for  Boston. 
Harvey  met  him  there  a  few  days  later,  when 
Choate  spoke  of  the  interview  as  one  of  the  most 
affecting  he  had  ever  had,  saying  that  the  appear- 
ance of  the  family  and  everything  about  the 
house  seemed  to  remind  him  of  scenes  he  had  wit- 
nessed in  families  which  had  lost  a  beloved  member, 
"and  that  sad  meal  which  we  partook  with  Mr.  and 


AND  ELECTIONS  35 

Mrs.  Webster  reminded  me  -of  the  first  meal  after 
the  return  from  the  grave,  when  the  full  force  of 
the  bereavement  seems  to  be  realized." 

Upon  this  funereal  household,  in  the  depths  of 
gloom,  there  came  strains  of  jubilant  music,  and  the 
shouting  of  an  enthusiastic  crowd  of  Washington 
Whigs,  who,  in  celebrating  Scott's  nomination,  con- 
ceived the  notion  of  including  Mr.  Webster  in  their 
round  of  visits.  They  gathered  under  his  windows, 
and  demanded  a  speech,  and  would  take  no  refusal, 
though  told  repeatedly  that  he  was  not  well  and 
had  retired  for  the  night.  He  appeared  finally  with 
great  reluctance,  and  in  a  brief  speech,  which  con- 
tained no  mention  of  Scott,  said: 

Of  one  thing,  gentlemen,  I  can  assure  you:  that  no 
one  amongst  you  will  enjoy  a  sounder  night's  sleep 
than  I  shall.  I  shall  rise  in  the  morning,  God  will- 
ing, to  the  performance  of  my  duty  with  the  lark, 
and  though  I  cannot  equal  him  in  sweetness  of  song, 
he  will  not  greet  the  purpling  east  more  joyous  and 
jocund  than  I. 

He  left  Washington  soon  afterward  for  Marshfield, 
where  a  few  weeks  later  he  died.  Harvey  records  that 
Webster  was  unable  to  reconcile  himself  to  Scott's 
nomination,  saying  only  a  few  days  before  his  death 
that  Scott,  if  elected,  "would  be  a  mere  tool  in  the 
hands  of  the  New  York  Whig  regency,  headed  by 
William  H.  Seward";  and  adding,  "if  I  had  a  vote, 
I  should  cast  it  for  General  Pierce.'7  He  wrote  in 


36        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

response  to  an  urgent  request  that  he  recommend 
his  party  associates  to  vote  for  Scott: 

This  is  a  matter  of  principle  and  character  and 
reputation  with  me,  and  I  will  die  before  I  will  do 
anything,  directly  or  indirectly,  from  which  it  is  to 
be  inferred  that  I  acquiesce  in  the  nomination  made 
at  Baltimore.  I  ask  nobody  to  vote  for  me,  I  ex- 
pect it  of  nobody;  I  find  fault  with  nobody  for  sup- 
porting the  nomination.  But  I  cannot  and  will  not 
say  that  I  acquiesce  in  it. 

Three  days  before  his  death,  when  a  letter  was 
read  to  him  from  a  friend  in  Boston,  expressing  the 
hope  that  he  would  not  be  swerved  from  his  deter- 
mination not  to  support  Scott,  he  said:  "Write 
to  him  and  tell  him  to  look  over  toward  Charles- 
town  and  see  if  the  Bunker  Hill  monument  is  still 
standing." 

Goldwin  Smith,  in  his  "Political  History  of  the 
United  States,"  says  of  this  tragic  close  of  a  great 
life: 

His  character,  to  which  the  friends  of  freedom  in 
the  North  had  long  looked  up,  fell  with  a  crash  like 
that  of  a  mighty  tree,  of  a  lofty  pillar,  of  a  rock  that 
for  ages  had  breasted  the  waves.  Some  minds,  will- 
ing to  be  misled,  he  still  drew  after  him,  but  the 
best  of  his  friends  turned  from  him,  and  his  life 
ended  in  gloom. 


CHAPTER  VI 
LINCOLN'S  TWO  NOMINATIONS  AND  ELECTIONS 

WAS  Lincoln  an  active  or  a  passive  candidate  for 
the  presidency  ?  I  have  read  what  his  various  biog- 
raphers have  said  upon  this  point  with  much  care, 
and  it  seems  to  me  to  leave  no  doubt  that  he  sought 
the  nomination  by  all  means  at  his  command  after 
he  returned  from  his  Eastern  tour  in  the  early  spring 
of  1860.  The  success  of  his  Cooper  Institute  speech, 
together  with  the  enthusiastic  reception  accorded 
him  in  New  England,  clearly  convinced  him  that 
he  was  a  presidential  possibility.  A  year  earlier  he 
had  no  such  aspirations.  In  April,  1859,  an  Illi- 
nois editor  wrote  to  him,  saying  he  was  preparing 
for  a  simultaneous  announcement  of  Lincoln's  name 
for  the  presidency  by  the  entire  Republican  press  of 
the  State.  To  this  Lincoln  replied:  "I  must  in  can- 
dor say  that  I  do  not  think  myself  fit  for  the  presi- 
dency. I  certainly  am  flattered  and  gratified  that 
some  partial  friends  think  of  me  in  that  connection; 
but  I  really  think  it  best  for  our  cause  that  no  con- 
certed effort,  such  as  you  suggest,  shall  be  made." 
Eleven  months  later,  he  took  a  quite  different  view, 
for  in  March,  1860,  he  wrote  to  a  friend  in  Kansas: 

As  to  your  kind  wishes  for  myself,  allow  me  to 
say  I  cannot  enter  the  ring  on  the  money  basis,  first, 

37 


38        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

because  in  the  main  it  is  wrong;  and,  secondly,  I 
have  not  and  cannot  get  the  money.  I  say  in  the 
main  the  use  of  money  is  wrong;  but  for  certain  ob- 
jects in  a  political  contest  the  use  of  some  is  both 
right  and  indispensable.  With  me,  as  with  yourself, 
this  long  struggle  has  been  one  of  great  pecuniary 
loss.  I  now  distinctly  say  this:  If  you  shall  be  ap- 
pointed a  delegate  to  Chicago,  I  will  furnish  one 
hundred  dollars  to  bear  the  expenses  of  the  trip. 

About  a  month  later  he  wrote  again  to  the  same 
friend:  "I  see  by  the  despatches  that  since  you 
wrote  Kansas  has  appointed  delegates  and  instructed 
for  Seward.  Don't  stir  them  up  to  anger,  but  come 
along  to  the  convention,  and  I  will  do  as  I  said  about 
expenses." 

There  is  no  doubt  about  the  authenticity  of  these 
two  letters,  for  both  are  given  in  facsimile  in  Hern- 
don's  "Life  of  Lincoln."  They  show,  as  Goldwin 
Smith  says,  that  "as  a  politician  he  played  the 
game."  Commenting  upon  Lincoln's  attitude  at  the 
time,  Herndon,  who  was  his  law  partner,  says: 

I  know  the  idea  prevails  that  Lincoln  sat  still  in  his 
chair  in  Springfield,  and  that  one  of  those  unlooked- 
for  tides  in  human  affairs  came  along  and  cast 
the  nomination  into  his  lap;  but  any  man  who  has 
had  experience  in  such  things  knows  that  great  politi- 
cal prizes  are  not  obtained  in  that  way.  The  truth 
is,  Lincoln  was  as  vigilant  as  he  was  ambitious,  and 
there  is  no  denying  the  fact  that  he  understood  the 
situation  perfectly  from  the  start.  It  was  apparent 
to  Lincoln  that  the  presidential  nomination  was 
within  his  reach.  He  began  gradually  to  lose  his 


AND  ELECTIONS  39 

interest  in  the  law  and  to  trim  his  political  sails  at 
the  same  time.  His  recent  success  had  stimulated 
his  self-confidence  to  unwonted  proportions.  He 
wrote  to  influential  party  workers  everywhere. 

Herndon  is  not,  I  am  aware,  an  entirely  safe  au- 
thority, but  there  is  corroborative  evidence  in  sup- 
port of  what  he  says  on  this  point.  When  the  time 
for  the  convention  to  meet  was  approaching,  Lincoln 
wrote  to  a  friend  who  urged  him  to  go  to  Chicago: 
"I  am  a  little  too  much  of  a  candidate  to  go,  and 
not  quite  enough  of  a  candidate  to  stay  away,  but 
upon  the  whole  I  believe  I  will  not  go." 

But  if  Lincoln  did  not  attend  in  person,  he  had  an 
able  and  tireless  body  of  friends  who  did  go  and  to 
whose  masterly  leadership  his  nomination  was  due. 
Yet  after  full  credit  is  given  to  their  efforts,  it  still 
remains  true,  as  Hay  and  Nicolay  say  in  their  "  Life," 
that  "Lincoln  was  chosen,  not  by  personal  intrigue 
but  through  political  necessity."  The  convention 
marked  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  such  bodies.  It 
was  the  first  of  the  great  modern  convention  assem- 
blages, which  are  at  once  the  most  impressive  and 
the  most  tumultuous  in  the  world.  It  was  the  first 
to  have  a  special  building  erected  for  its  use,  and 
the  first  to  bring  telegraph  wires  and  instruments 
into  the  building  itself.  It  was  the  first,  also,  to 
admit  the  general  public  in  large  numbers,  for  The 
Wigwam,  as  the  convention  building  was  christened, 
had  a  capacity  of  between  5,000  and  10,000,  and  it 
was  crammed  at  every  session. 


40        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

The  spectators,  outnumbering  the  convention  itself 
five  or  six  to  one,  played  the  part  that  their  succes- 
sors have  played  in  similar  bodies  ever  since.  They 
consisted  almost  entirely  of  ardent  supporters  of  the 
leading  candidates  who  were  there  to  cheer  on  sig- 
nal and  to  keep  on  cheering  as  long  as  throat  and 
lungs  permitted  when  required  to  do  so.  In  fact, 
the  modern  practise  of  cheering  and  counter-cheer- 
ing, in  tests  of  noise  and  endurance,  began  at  this 
convention.  In  this  first  contest  the  East  was  pitted 
against  the  West  from  the  outset.  In  the  prelimi- 
nary skirmish  for  position,  the  West  came  off  victor. 

The  Seward  contingent  from  New  York,  several 
thousand  strong,  had  gone  to  the  convention  full  of 
the  confidence  of  coming  victory.  They  had  a 
gorgeously  uniformed  brass  band,  and  they  marched 
about  the  streets  with  military  precision  to  the  ad- 
miration of  the  populace.  They  announced  a  grand 
parade  on  the  morning  of  the  day  upon  which  the 
convention  was  to  meet.  When  the  Lincoln  man- 
agers heard  of  this  they  took  counsel  as  to  what 
should  be  done  to  offset  the  display.  After  much 
debate  it  was  decided  to  fill  The  Wigwam  with  Lin- 
coln shouters,  while  the  Seward  men  were  marching, 
and  to  fill  all  available  space  so  completely  that  the 
latter  could  not  get  in.  This  scheme  was  carried  out 
successfully,  the  Seward  men  aiding  it  greatly  by 
marching  and  countermarching,  under  the  stimu- 
lating influence  of  popular  applause,  till  so  late  a 
moment  that  when  they  reached  The  Wigwam  they 


AND  ELECTIONS  41 

found  that  very  few  except  members  of  the  New 
York  delegation  could  get  in. 

From  the  outset,  as  Herndon  says,  "the  contest 
narrowed  down  to  a  neck-and-neck  race  between  the 
brilliant  statesman  of  Auburn  and  the  less  preten- 
tious, but  manly  rail-splitter  from  the  Sangamon 
bottoms."  The  platform  was  reported  before  the 
nominations  were  made,  and  after  its  reading,  which 
called  forth  unbounded  enthusiasm,  an  historic  inci- 
dent occurred  which  should  be  recorded  here.  A 
veteran  abolitionist,  Mr.  Giddings,  of  Ohio,  moved 
that  the  first  resolution  be  amended  by  inserting 
the  words  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  an- 
nouncing the  right  of  all  men  to  "life,  liberty  and 
the  pursuit  of  happiness."  Several  delegates  ob- 
jected to  any  change,  and  one  remarked  that  there 
were  many  truths  in  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence, adding:  "Mr.  President,  I  believe  in  the  Ten 
Commandments,  but  I  do  not  want  them  in  a  politi- 
cal platform."  The  convention  voted  down  the 
amendment,  whereupon  Mr.  Giddings  left  the  con- 
vention. Later,  George  William  Curtis,  of  New  York, 
renewed  the  motion,  and  when  fresh  objections  were 
made  he  swept  them  aside  with  this  really  impas- 
sioned burst  of  oratory: 

I  have  to  ask  this  convention  whether  they  are 
prepared  to  go  upon  record  before  the  country  as 
voting  down  the  words  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence ?  I  rise  simply  to  ask  gentlemen  to  think 
well  before,  upon  the  free  prairies  of  the  West,  in 


42        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

the  summer  of  1860,  they  dare  to  wince  and  quail 
before  the  assertions  of  the  men  in  Philadelphia,  in 
1776 — before  they  dare  to  shrink  from  repeating 
the  words  that  those  great  men  enunciated. 

This  carried  the  convention  by  storm,  the  amend- 
ment was  adopted,  and  Mr.  Giddings  returned  over- 
joyed to  his  seat  in  the  convention. 

With  the  naming  of  candidates  the  prolonged 
cheering  contests  began.  The  custom  of  set  speeches 
in  placing  candidates  before  a  convention  had  not 
been  instituted  at  this  time.  Each  spokesman  con- 
fined himself  to  a  simple  statement  that  in  behalf  of 
his  State  he  begged  leave  to  present  the  name  of  its 
candidate.  There  was  only  ordinary  cheering  at 
the  presentation  of  Seward's  and  Lincoln's  names, 
but  when  the  Seward  nomination  was  seconded, 
pandemonium  of  the  modern  type  broke  loose. 
Murat  Halstead,  who  was  present,  thus  describes 
what  followed: 

The  effect  was  startling.  Hundreds  of  persons 
stopped  their  ears  in  pain.  The  shouting  was  abso- 
lutely frantic,  shrill  and  wild.  No  Comanches,  no 
panthers,  ever  struck  a  higher  note,  or  gave  screams 
with  more  infernal  intensity.  Looking  from  the 
stage  over  the  vast  amphitheatre,  nothing  was  to 
be  seen  below  but  thousands  of  hats — a  black  mighty 
swarm  of  hats — flying  with  the  velocity  of  hornets, 
over  a  mass  of  human  heads,  most  of  the  mouths  of 
which  were  open.  Above,  all  around  the  galleries, 
hats  and  handkerchiefs  were  flying  in  the  tempest 
together. 


AND  ELECTIONS  43 

When  Lincoln's  nomination  was  seconded,  the 
counter-demonstration  began.  "The  uproar,"  says 
Mr.  Halstead,  "was  beyond  description.  I  thought 
the  Seward  yell  could  not  be  surpassed,  but  the 
Lincoln  boys  were  clearly  ahead,  and,  feeling  their 
victory,  as  there  was  a  lull  in  the  storm,  took  deep 
breaths  all  round,  and  gave  a  concentrated  shriek 
that  was  positively  awful,  and  accompanied  it  with 
stamping  that  made  every  plank  and  pillar  in  the 
building  quiver."  That  careful  preparation  had 
been  made  for  this  is  shown  by  the  established  fact 
that  the  Seward  men  had  engaged  Tom  Hyer,  a 
prize-fighter,  with  a  gang  of  roughs,  to  marshal  their 
forces  and  to  lead  in  the  cheering  and  yelling,  while 
the  Lincoln  managers  had  hired  a  couple  of  men 
with  stentorian  voices,  had  instructed  them  carefully 
as  to  the  methods  they  were  to  use,  and  had  placed 
them  in  the  galleries  which  they  had  packed  with 
their  followers. 

The  night  before  the  balloting  began  the  Seward 
men  were  so  confident  of  his  nomination  that  they 
gave  a  champagne  supper  of  unlimited  dimensions, 
and  marched  about  serenading  the  delegations  from 
other  States.  But  while  they  were  drinking  and 
marching  and  cheering,  the  Lincoln  managers  were 
undermining  Seward's  strength  by  persistent  work 
among  the  delegates,  using  chiefly  the  argument  that 
he  could  not  be  elected  if  nominated.  In  this  work 
Pennsylvania  and  Indiana  played  the  most  promi- 
nent part,  and  one  of  the  most  powerful  personal 


44        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

influences  against  Seward  was  his  old  political  part- 
ner, Horace  Greeley,  who  sat  in  the  convention  as 
a  delegate  from  the  newly  made  State  of  Oregon. 
Thurlow  Weed,  another  old  political  partner  of 
Greeley  in  the  once  powerful  firm  of  Seward,  Weed, 
and  Greeley,  found  himself  at  last  a  victim  of  his 
own  doctrine  of  "availability,"  which  he  had  used 
with  such  deadly  force  for  so  many  years  against 
Clay  and  Webster. 

It  is  said  that  the  Seward  men  promised  the  In- 
diana delegates  all  the  money  they  needed  to  carry 
the  State;  that  they  said  openly  to  opposing  dele- 
gates from  other  States  they  "would  spend  oceans  of 
money"  if  Seward  were  nominated,  but  they  could 
not  stay  the  tide  that  was  running  against  him. 
Lincoln  was  nominated  on  the  third  ballot  amid  a 
scene  of  indescribable  enthusiasm,  accompanied  by 
an  uproar  so  deafening  that  the  reports  of  a  cannon 
that  was  being  discharged  upon  the  roof  of  the 
building  were  inaudible  within  it. 

The  Seward  men  were  dazed  by  the  unexpected 
defeat  and  fairly  prostrated  with  grief.  Thurlow 
Weed,  whose  success  in  defeating  Clay  just  twenty 
years  earlier  at  Harrisburg,  on  the  ground  of  "avail- 
ability," had  caused  Tyler  to  shed  tears,  confesses 
in  his  "Autobiography"  that  when  Seward 's  defeat 
came  he  was  "completely  unnerved  and  even  shed 
tears."  George  William  Curtis,  whose  eloquent  plea 
against  striking  from  the  platform  the  opening  words 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  had  taken  the 


AND  ELECTIONS  45 

convention  by  storm,  carrying  away  all  opposition 
like  chaff,  was  scarcely  less  dejected  than  Weed,  his 
sad  appearance  prompting  his  distinguished  col- 
league and  fellow  worker,  William  M.  Evarts,  to 
say,  as  he  slipped  his  hand  through  his  arm  while 
leaving  the  convention  hall:  "Well,  Curtis,  at  least 
we  saved  the  Declaration  of  Independence." 

Seward  was  more  philosophical  than  his  friends. 
He  sat  calmly  in  his  library  in  Auburn,  awaiting  the 
news  from  the  convention.  His  neighbors  were 
assembled  in  the  village  telegraph  office,  confidently 
expecting  his  nomination.  When  the  news  of  Lin- 
coln's came  instead,  not  one  of  them  had  the  heart 
to  take  it  to  him.  His  son,  in  his  "Memoir"  of  his 
father,  says  he  knew  by  their  failure  to  bring  good 
news,  that  "there  was  no  news  that  friends  would 
love  to  bring."  Later,  when  some  one  mustered 
courage  to  visit  him,  he  was  told  that  no  Republican 
could  be  found  in  Auburn  who  felt  like  writing  the 
customary  paragraph  in  the  evening  paper  announc- 
ing and  approving  the  nomination.  He  smiled,  and, 
taking  up  a  pen,  wrote  a  few  lines  commending  the 
platform,  and  saying  that  "no  truer  or  firmer  de- 
fenders of  the  Republican  faith  could  have  been 
found  in  the  Union  than  the  distinguished  and  es- 
teemed citizens  upon  whom  the  honors  of  the^nom- 
ination  have  fallen."  In  a  letter  to  Weed,  written 
on  the  same  day,  he  said:  "I  wish  that  I  was  sure 
that  your  sense  of  the  disappointment  is  as  light  as 
my  own." 


46        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

Lincoln  was  in  Springfield  when  the  news  of  his 
nomination  reached  him.  Herndon  says  that  nat- 
urally enough  he  was  nervous,  restless,  and  laboring 
under  more  or  less  suppressed  excitement.  He  had 
been  tossing  ball — a  pastime  frequently  indulged  in 
by  lawyers  of  the  day — and  had  played  a  few  games 
of  billiards  to  keep  down,  as  another  has  expressed 
it,  the  unnatural  excitement  that  threatened  to  pos- 
sess him.  When  the  telegram  containing  the  result 
of  the  last  ballot  came  in,  although  apparently  calm 
and  undisturbed,  a  close  observer  could  have  de- 
tected in  the  compressed  lip  and  serious  countenance 
evidences  of  deep  and  unusual  emotion.  As  the 
balloting  progressed  he  had  gone  to  the  office  of  the 
Journal,  and  was  sitting  in  a  large  armchair  there 
when  the  news  of  the  nomination  came.  He  read 
the  despatch,  first  in  silence,  and  then  aloud  to  the 
others  present,  and  then  arose,  remarking  that  he 
"would  go  down  the  street  to  tell  a  little  woman 
the  news." 

Lincoln  received  the  news  of  his  first  election  at 
Springfield,  111.  The  first  returns  were  from  near-by 
sections  of  the  State  and  were  very  favorable.  When 
later  news  began  to  come  in  from  Missouri,  Lincoln, 
who  was  entirely  calm,  said:  "Now  they  should  get 
a  few  licks  back  at  us,"  but  this  proved  not  to  be 
the  case,  for  the  returns  were  favorable.  The  only 
anxiety  he  had  shown  had  been  about  his  own  State 
and  city,  saying  he  did  not  "feel  quite  easy  about 
Springfield."  "Toward  morning,  however,"  records 


AND  ELECTIONS  47 

Ida  Tarbell,  in  her  "Life  of  Lincoln/'  "the  an- 
nouncement came  that  he  had  a  majority  in  his  own 
precinct.  Then  it  was  that  he  showed  the  first 
emotion,  a  jubilant  chuckle,  and  soon  after  he  re- 
marked cheerfully  to  his  friends,  that  he  'guessed 
he'd  go  home  now/  which  he  did." 

Lincoln's  renomination  four  years  later  was  a 
foregone  conclusion  long  before  the  convention  met. 
"He  took  no  measures  whatever  to  promote  his  can- 
didacy/' record  Nicolay  and  Hay  in  the  biography. 
He  wrote  to  a  Congressman:  "I  do  not  desire  a  re- 
nomination,  except  for  the  reason  that  such  action 
on  the  part  of  the  Republican  party  would  be  the 
most  emphatic  indorsement  which  could  be  given  to 
the  policy  of  my  administration."  When  told  that 
a  member  of  his  Cabinet  (Chase)  was  scheming  for 
the  nomination,  he  said:  "It  is  in  very  bad  taste. 
...  If  he  becomes  President,  all  right !  I  hope 
we  may  never  have  a  worse  man.  .  .  .  I  am  entirely 
indifferent  to  his  success  or  failure  in  these  schemes 
so  long  as  he  does  his  duty  as  head  of  the  Treasury 
Department."  When  apprehensive  friends  told  him 
he  would  do  well  to  beware  of  Grant,  his  reply  was: 
"  If  he  takes  Richmond,  let  him  have  it ! "  When  he 
had  been  renominated  unanimously,  he  said:  "I 
view  this  call  to  a  second  term  as  in  nowise  more 
flattering  to  myself  than  as  an  expression  of  the 
public  judgment  that  I  may  better  finish  a  difficult 
work  than  could  one  less  severely  schooled  to  the 
task."  To  a  visiting  delegation  he  said:  "I  have 


48        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

not  permitted  myself  to  conclude  that  I  am  the  best 
man  in  the  country,  but  I  am  reminded  of  the  old 
Dutch  farmer  who  remarked  to  a  companion  that  it 
was  not  best  to  swap  horses  while  crossing  a  stream." 

A  period  of  discouragement  followed  the  nomina- 
tion and  "toward  the  end  of  August/7  record  Nicolay 
and  Hay,  "the  general  gloom  and  depression  envel- 
oped the  President  himself." 

Thurlow  Weed  told  him  early  in  August  that  his 
"re-election  was  an  impossibility."  McClellan  had 
not  been  nominated  at  that  time,  but  his  nomina- 
tion by  the  Democrats,  which  came  about  a  week 
later,  was  generally  anticipated.  On  August  23  Lin- 
coln wrote  and  sealed  the  following  memorandum. 
(I  quote  from  the  Nicolay-Hay  biography,  vol.  IX, 
pp.  252-3) : 

This  morning,  as  for  some  days  past,  it  seems  ex- 
ceedingly probable  that  this  administration  will  not 
be  re-elected.  Then  it  will  be  my  duty  to  so  co- 
operate with  the  President-elect  as  to  save  the  Union 
between  the  election  and  the  inauguration;  as  he  will 
have  secured  his  election  on  such  ground  that  he 
cannot  possibly  save  it  afterward. 

He  folded  and  pasted  the  sheet  of  paper  on  which 
this  was  written  in  such  manner  that  its  contents 
could  not  be  read,  and  as  his  Cabinet  came  together 
he  asked  each  member  to  write  his  name  across  the 
back  of  it,  which  was  done.  He  gave  no  intimation 
of  its  contents.  After  his  triumphant  re-election,  he 


Reproduced  by  courtesy  of  The  Century  Co. 

Buchanan's  inauguration. 


AND  ELECTIONS  49 

had  the  paper  opened  by  one  of  his  secretaries,  and, 
having  read  its  contents,  he  said: 

You  will  remember  that  this  was  written  at  the 
time,  six  days  before  the  Chicago  nominating  con- 
vention, when  as  yet  we  had  no  adversary  and 
seemed  to  have  no  friends.  I  then  solemnly  resolved 
on  the  course  of  action  indicated  in  this  paper.  I 
resolved,  in  case  of  the  election  of  General  McClellan, 
being  certain  that  he  would  be  the  candidate,  that  I 
would  see  him  and  talk  matters  over  with  him.  I 
vwould  say:  "General,  the  election  has  demonstrated 
that  you  are  stronger,  have  more  influence  with  the 
American  people  than  I.  Now  let  us  together,  you 
with  your  influence  and  I  with  all  the  executive 
power  of  the  government,  try  to  save  the  country. 
You  raise  as  many  troops  as  you  possibly  can,  and  I 
will  devote  all  my  energies  to  assist  and  finish  the 
war." 

Secretary  Seward  said: 

And  the  general  would  have  answered  you,  "Yes, 
yes,"  and  the  next  day  when  you  saw  him  again  and 
pressed  these  views  upon  him  he  would  have  said, 
"Yes,  yes/'  and  so  on  forever,  and  would  have  done 
nothing  at  all. 

To  which  Lincoln  replied:  "At  least  I  should  have 
done  my  duty  and  have  stood  clear  before  my  con- 
science." 

He  did  not  feel  certain  of  his  re-election  in  1864, 
saying  on  election  day:  "I  am  just  enough  of  a 
politician  to  know  that  there  was  not  much  doubt 


50        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

about  the  result  of  the  Baltimore  convention;  but 
about  this  thing  I  am  very  far  from  being  certain. 
I  wish  I  were  certain."  When  late  at  night  positive 
assurance  was  received  that  he  had  been  re-elected, 
he  took  the  news  calmly,  showing  no  elation  or  ex- 
citement, saying  that  he  was  glad  to  be  relieved  of 
suspense,  and  grateful  that  the  verdict  of  the  people 
was  likely  to  be  so  full,  clear,  and  unmistakable  that 
there  could  be  no  dispute.  "About  two  o'clock  in 
the  morning,"  says  Noah  Brooks,  one  of  the  private 
secretaries,  in  his  "Washington  in  Lincoln's  Time," 
"  a  messenger  came  over  from  the  White  House  (to 
the  War  Department  where  Lincoln  was  receiving  the 
returns)  with  the  news  that  a  crowd  of  Pennsylva- 
nians  were  serenading  his  empty  chamber,  where- 
upon he  went  home;  and,  in  answer  to  repeated 
calls,  he  made  a  happy  little  speech  full  of  good 
feeling  and  cheerfulness.  He  wound  up  his  remarks 
by  saying:  'If  I  know  my  heart,  my  gratitude  is 
free  from  any  taint  of  personal  triumph.  I  do  not 
impugn  the  motives  of  any  one  opposed  to  me.  It 
is  no  pleasure  to  me  to  triumph  over  any  one,  but  I 
give  thanks  to  the  Almighty  for  this  evidence  of  the 
people's  resolution  to  stand  by  free  government  and 
the  rights  of  humanity.'" 


CHAPTER  VII 

LAST  DEMOCRATIC  CONVENTIONS  BEFORE  THE 
CIVIL  WAR 

THE  convention  of  1860  brought  keen  disappoint- 
ment to  another  persistent  and  eager  candidate  for 
a  presidential  nomination,  who  had  behind  him  as 
large  and  as  devoted  a  body  of  friends  as  had  sup- 
ported Seward.  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  whose  mem- 
orable debates  with  Lincoln  had  given  him  a  fame 
commensurate  with  that  of  Lincoln,  reached  the 
climax  of  his  political  career  at  the  moment  when 
his  party  had  entered  upon  the  throes  of  dissolution. 
He  succeeded  in  getting  a  nomination  from  only  one 
section  of  his  dismembered  party  and  under  condi- 
tions that  made  it  worthless.  He  had  been  an  un- 
successful candidate  for  the  Democratic  nomination 
in  1852  and  again  in  1856.  When  his  party  came 
together  in  convention  at  Charleston  in  April,  1860, 
it  had  fallen  a  helpless  prey  to  the  same  "irrepressi- 
ble conflict"  that  was  leading  the  country  into  civil 
war.  The  Southern  members  had  exerted  themselves 
to  have  the  convention  called  for  the  first  time  to 
meet  in  the  far  South,  in  the  stronghold  of  extreme 
slavery  sentiment  and  the  cradle  of  nullification  and 
secession.  They  had  surrounded  the  convention 
with  the  most  powerful  slavery  influences,  and  from 

51 


52        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

the  outset  there  was  no  hope  of  agreement  between 
them  and  the  Northern  wing  of  the  party.  They 
were  irreconcilably  divided  on  the  question  of  the 
Territories  and  slavery,  and  every  effort  to  bring 
them  together  resulted  only  in  increased  bitterness 
and  more  fierce  antagonism.  The  convention  was  in 
session  for  ten  days,  wrangling  incessantly  over 
nearly  every  subject  that  arose.  Threats  of  bolting 
began  to  be  made  by  the  Southern  delegations  on 
the  third  day,  and  before  the  balloting  began  a  large 
proportion  of  them  had  withdrawn.  The  delegates 
who  remained  adopted  the  two-thirds  rule,  and  the 
consequence  was  that  Douglas  could  not  be  nomi- 
nated even  by  the  depleted  convention.  After  fifty- 
seven  fruitless  ballots  the  convention  adjourned  to 
meet  at  Baltimore  on  June  18. 

The  seceding  Southern  delegates  organized  a  con- 
vention of  their  own,  adopted  a  platform,  and  ad- 
journed to  meet  at  Richmond  on  June  11.  When 
the  regular  convention  reassembled  at  Baltimore  and 
it  became  apparent  that  Douglas  would  be  nomi- 
nated, the  few  remaining  Southern  delegates  started 
a  second  session  and  organized  a  second  bolters'  con- 
vention, nominating  Breckinridge  and  Lane.  The 
other  bolting  convention  made  the  same  nominations 
after  reassembling  at  Richmond.  The  regular  con- 
vention, adhering  still  to  the  two-thirds  rule,  finally 
nominated  Douglas.  It  could  not  be  said,  however, 
that  either  he  or  Breckinridge  had  received  a  two- 
thirds  vote  of  a  full  party  convention,  and  conse- 


AND  ELECTIONS  53 

quently  neither  of  them  could  establish  a  claim  to 
regularity. 

There  were  several  manifestations  of  grim  humor 
about  the  convention  which  had  so  much  difficulty 
in  getting  Douglas  into  the  field.  When  it  first  met 
in  Charleston,  S.  C.,  the  Northern  delegates  received 
a  disagreeable  intimation  of  the  way  in  which  their 
party  had  come  under  the  domination  of  the  slave 
power.  When  they  tried  to  march  through  the 
streets  at  night  with  a  military  band  at  their  head, 
which  they  had  brought  from  New  York,  they  were 
told  that  they  came  under  the  municipal  law  of 
slavery,  which  forbade  band-playing  after  ten  o'clock 
at  night  in  the  streets,  since  the  drums  might  be  mis- 
taken for  the  dread  alarm  signal  of  a  slave  uprising. 
Later,  when  the  adjourned  convention  reassembled  in 
Baltimore,  the  temporary  flooring  above  the  parquet 
of  the  theatre  in  which  the  sessions  were  held  gave 
way  in  the  centre,  and  the  delegates  found  them- 
selves sliding  down  the  shelving  sides  of  a  pit  into  a 
human  maelstrom,  from  which  they  were  extricated 
with  much  difficulty.  This  the  opposition  press  of 
the  time  commented  upon  as  an  ominous  sign  of  the 
forthcoming  dropping  out  of  the  bottom  of  the  party. 

In  the  same  sessions  at  Baltimore,  Benjamin  F. 
Butler  of  Massachusetts  charged  that  forged  tick- 
ets of  admission  had  been  issued,  two  of  which  he 
exhibited,  and  declared:  "We  are  overwhelmed  with 
outsiders.  I  do  not  propose  to  sit  here  under  this 
fraud."  The  redoubtable  Isaiah  Rynders  asked  Mr. 


54        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

Butler,  with  much  eagerness,  where  he  got  the  tickets, 
saying  he  was  anxious  to  get  some  of  his  friends  into 
the  convention.  Before  this  question  was  disposed 
of  it  caused  a  violent  altercation  between  a  Mr.  Ran- 
dall and  another  Pennsylvania  delegate,  in  which  the 
"lie  was  exchanged"  with  great  force  and  freedom, 
and  after  adjournment  Randall's  son  struck  his 
father's  opponent  a  "staggering  blow  between  the 
eyes/'  and  the  latter  responded  by  "getting  one  in 
on  young  Randall's  ear,  levelling  him  to  the  ground." 


CHAPTER  VIII 

BLAINE'S  FATE  LIKE  CLAY'S 

WITH  the  exception  of  Clay,  James  G.  Elaine  was  a 
presidential  candidate  for  a  longer  period  than  any 
other  man  in  our  history.  His  name  was  before  the 
conventions  of  1876,  1880,  1884,  1888,  and  1892,  a 
period  of  nearly  twenty  years.  He  failed  of  a  nom- 
ination in  four  conventions,  and  was  nominated  in 
one,  only  to  be  defeated  at  the  polls.  Until  the  last 
trial  he  maintained  his  courage,  and  if  he  felt  bitter- 
ness toward  his  successful  rivals  he  kept  it  from  the 
public  observation.  He  entered  upon  the  contest  in 
1876  under  extremely  unfortunate  conditions.  He 
had  been  charged  with  using  his  position  as  speaker 
for  personal  advantage  and  his  conduct  had  been 
made  the  subject  of  an  investigation  by  Congress.  A 
witness  named  Mulligan  had  been  summoned  and 
had  arrived  in  Washington  to  testify,  who  was  said  to 
have  in  his  possession  a  batch  of  incriminating  letters. 
Elaine  called  upon  him,  got  possession  of  the  letters, 
and,  in  a  personal  explanation,  read  them  with  dra- 
matic effect  in  the  House.  His  friends  declared  this 
explanation  to  be  a  complete  vindication,  but  his 
critics  pronounced  the  letters  to  be  proof  of  his  guilt. 
The  episode  came  on  the  eve  of  the  assembling 

of  the  convention  at  Cincinnati.    On  the  Sunday  be- 

55 


56        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

fore  its  sessions  began,  Mr.  Elaine,  while  apparently 
in  the  best  of  health,  was  smitten  with  what  was 
said  at  the  time  to  have  been  a  sunstroke.  He  was 
entering  a  church  in  Washington,  when  without 
warning  he  sank  upon  the  stone  steps,  being  saved 
from  falling  by  his  wife,  who  caught  him  in  her  arms. 
He  was  taken  to  his  home  unconscious  and  remained 
till  Tuesday  "locked,"  writes  his  biographer  and 
cousin,  Mary  A.  Dodge  (Gail  Hamilton),  "in  impen- 
etrable sleep."  All  efforts  to  arouse  him  were  in 
vain  till  the  following  Tuesday,  when  he  regained 
full  consciousness,  and,  calling  for  writing  materials, 
inscribed  with  his  own  hand  the  following  telegram 
to  Senator  Hale  at  Cincinnati: 

I  am  entirely  convalescent,  suffering  from  physical 
weakness.  Impress  upon  my  friends  the  great  depth 
of  gratitude  I  feel  for  the  unparalleled  steadfastness 
with  which  they  have  adhered  to  me  in  my  hour  of 
trial. 

The  convention  began  to  ballot  on  the  second  day, 
and,  according  to  Miss  Dodge,  "Calmest,  coolest, 
most  discerning  of  all,  Mr.  Elaine  sat  in  his  library 
and  from  morning  forecasted  the  result."  Before 
the  decisive  vote  was  fully  counted,  his  message  of 
congratulation  was  on  the  way  to  Mr.  Hayes: 

I  offer  you  my  sincerest  congratulations  on  your 
nomination.  It  will  be  alike  my  highest  pleasure  as 
well  as  my  first  political  duty  to  do  the  utmost  in  my 
power  to  promote  your  election.  The  earliest  mo- 


AND  ELECTIONS  57 

ments  of  my  returning  and  confirmed  health  will  be 
devoted  to  securing  as  large  a  vote  in  Maine  as  she 
would  have  given  for  myself. 

That  he  was  disappointed  and  depressed  by  the 
result,  even  to  the  point  of  abandoning  hope  of  suc- 
cess in  the  future,  seems  to  be  sufficiently  well  estab- 
lished. Colonel  A.  K.  McClure  says  in  his  recollec- 
tions: 

I  saw  Elaine  soon  after  the  Cincinnati  convention 
of  1876,  and  talked  with  him  for  an  hour  alone  at 
the  Continental  Hotel,  and  I  well  remember  the  sad 
expression  of  his  strong  face  when  he  said:  "I  am  the 
Henry  Clay  of  the  Republican  party;  I  can  never  be 
President.7'  He  was  standing  by  a  window  looking 
out  upon  the  street,  with  his  arm  over  my  shoulder, 
and  he  spoke  of  his  hopes  and  fears  with  a  subdued 
eloquence  that  was  painfully  impressive.  He  was 
again  defeated  for  nomination  in  1880,  thus  suffering 
two  defeats  when  the  candidates  chosen  by  the  con- 
vention were  elected.  He  was  nominated  in  1884 
and  defeated,  thus  completing  the  circle  of  the  sad 
history  of  Clay  and  the  Whig  party. 

Miss  Dodge  bears  similar  testimony: 

Never  afterward  did  he  make  one  movement 
toward  a  candidacy;  never  did  any  solicitation 
thereto  receive  the  consent  of  his  own  mind,  and 
never  the  consent  of  his  lips  except  as  it  seemed  to 
him  cowardice,  the  abandonment  of  comrades,  and 
the  betrayal  of  causes,  to  refuse  it.  Whatever  assis- 
tance he  subsequently  lent  to  the  support  of  his  own 


58        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

candidacy  was  rendered  with  an  insurmountable  per- 
sonal reluctance,  from  a  conviction  that  it  would  be 
ignoble  not  to  do  it. 

In  1880  the  Elaine  and  Grant  forces  were  not  only 
very  evenly  balanced,  but  were  so  implacably  hos- 
tile to  each  other  that  neither  candidate  had  a  chance 
of  success  after  the  balloting  had  begun.  The  full 
story  of  this  convention  will  be  told  in  a  subsequent 
chapter.  Elaine's  supporters  secured  the  nomination 
of  Garfield,  and  Elaine  threw  himself  into  the  subse- 
quent campaign  with  great  enthusiasm.  When  his 
nomination  came  on  the  fourth  ballot  in  1884,  he  is 
said  by  his  intimate  friends  to  have  received  it 
calmly,  but  that  at  no  time  during  the  campaign  was 
he  sanguine  of  election.  One  of  them,  who  visited 
him  at  his  home  in  Augusta,  says  of  him  that  he  was 
nervous  and  depressed  most  of  the  time,  that  he 
walked  up  and  down  a  great  deal,  and  that  he  would 
fling  his  hands  above  his  head  and  exclaim:  "Will 
this  rain  of  calumny  never  cease!"  On  the  eve  of 
election  day  he  said  in  a  speech  at  Boston: 

I  go  to  my  home  to-morrow,  not  without  a  strong 
confidence  in  the  result  of  the  ballot,  but  with  a 
heart  that  shall  not  in  the  least  degree  be  troubled 
by  any  verdict  that  may  be  returned  by  the  Ameri- 
can people. 

When  the  suspense  which  followed  the  election, 
due  to  uncertainty  about  the  result  in  New  York 


AND  ELECTIONS  59 

State,  had  ended  in  assurance  of  his  defeat,  Mr. 
Elaine  wrote  to  a  friend: 

I  was  not  sustained  in  the  canvass  by  many  who 
had  personally  a  far  greater  stake  than  I.  They  are 
likely  to  have  leisure  for  reflection  and  for  cool  cal- 
culation of  the  small  sums  they  were  asked  in  vain 
to  contribute.  If  the  country  is  lost,  it  will  be  some 
satisfaction  to  realize  that  the  class  which  permitted 
it  to  be  sacrificed  will  feel  the  result  most  keenly. 
But  I  fear  you  may  think  me  ill-natured  if  I  keep  on. 
I  really  am  not,  and  feel  as  placid  as  a  summer's  day. 
Personally,  I  care  less  than  my  nearest  friends  would 
believe,  but  for  the  cause  and  for  my  friends  I  pro- 
foundly deplore  the  result. 

Mr.  Elaine  was  travelling  in  Scotland  when  the 
convention  of  1888  assembled,  and  he  refused  to 
allow  his  friends  to  make  him  a  candidate,  but  votes 
were  cast  for  him  on  every  one  of  the  eight  ballots 
taken.  On  receipt  of  the  news  of  Harrison's  nomina- 
tion, he  telegraphed  his  "hearty  congratulations/' 
predicting  for  his  campaign  the  "  triumphant  en- 
thusiasm" and  "victorious  conclusion"  that  followed 
his  grandfather's  nomination  in  1840.  When  Har- 
rison became  President,  Elaine  accepted  the  portfolio 
of  State  in  his  Cabinet,  resigning  it  and  returning  to 
his  home  in  Maine  three  days  before  the  meeting  of 
the  national  convention  in  1892.  It  was  said  by  his 
critics  that  he  resigned  because  he  could  not  with 
propriety  remain  in  the  Cabinet  and  be  a  candidate 
against  his  chief  before  that  convention.  He  had  in 


60        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

the  preceding  February  written  a  letter  announcing 
that  he  was  not  a  candidate.  His  action  in  resign- 
ing was  construed  by  his  friends  as  permission  to  use 
his  name  and  they  did  so,  mustering  for  him  on  the 
only  ballot  taken  182  votes  against  the  535  which  re- 
nominated  Harrison.  Mr.  Elaine  was  in  Boston  at 
the  time  and  was  watching  the  proceedings  closely. 
"When  the  vote  on  a  preliminary  point  had  been 
taken/'  says  one  who  was  present,  "forecasting  the 
vote  on  the  nomination,  Mr.  Elaine  saw  that  his 
supporters  were  overpowered,  and  requesting  a  mem- 
ber of  his  family  to  receive  further  telegrams,  he 
retired  early  and  was  asleep  at  once  and  soundly." 
The  same  authority  says  of  the  final  outcome: 

The  result  of  the  balloting  in  the  convention,  under 
the  circumstances,  was  not  a  surprise  to  Mr.  Elaine. 
His  only  regret  was  that  his  name  had  been  used  at 
all;  having  been  used,  a  larger  vote  would  have  been 
flattering,  but  he  received  the  announcement  with 
no  apparent  emotion  and  no  outward  sign  beyond  the 
sad  smile  which  spoke  of  his  consciousness  of  mis- 
apprehension and  misrepresentation.  He  was  in  real- 
ity profoundly  indifferent. 

Whatever  his  real  emotions,  they  did  not  prompt 
him  to  send  a  word  of  congratulation  to  Harrison, 
as  he  had  done  four  years  earlier,  although  he  did 
send  a  message  of  that  kind  to  the  nominee  for  Vice- 
President.  Like  Clay,  who  refused  to  support  Tay- 
lor at  the  close  of  his  long  quest,  and  like  Webster, 


AND  ELECTIONS  61 

who  refused  to  say  a  word  in  favor  of  Scott  when  his 
life  pursuit,  too,  was  ended,  Elaine  found  himself  at 
last  unable  to  utter  a  word  of  cheer  for  his  successful 
rival.  All  three  men  were  in  broken  health  when  the 
final  test  came,  and  all  soon  afterward  found  rest  in 
the  grave. 


CHAPTER  IX 

CLEVELAND'S    FIRST   NOMINATION    AND    CAMPAIGN 

GROVER  CLEVELAND'S  rapid  rise  to  a  presidential  can- 
didacy in  1884  was  due  largely  to  the  machinations 
of  James  G.  Elaine  and  his  political  associates  two 
years  earlier.  He  was  elected  mayor  of  Buffalo  in 
1881,  and  his  able  and  fearless  administration  of  that 
office  had  brought  him  so  favorably  to  the  attention 
of  the  entire  State  that  in  1882  the  Democrats  nom- 
inated him  as  their  candidate  for  governor.  In  the 
same  year  the  Republicans  nominated  as  their  can- 
didate Charles  J.  Folger,  who  at  the  time  was  secre- 
tary of  the  treasury  under  President  Arthur.  He 
was  a  judge  of  the  court  of  appeals  of  New  York 
when  in  1881  Arthur  invited  him  into  his  Cabinet, 
and  his  nomination  for  the  governorship  was  made 
in  obedience  to  the  personal  wishes  of  the  President 
and  through  the  unrestrained  and  thinly  disguised 
influence  of  the  national  administration.  It  was  the 
subject  of  much  criticism  and  caused  serious  dissat- 
isfaction within  the  Republican  party,  especially 
among  the  followers  of  Elaine,  who  interpreted  the 
nomination  to  mean  a  design  on  the  part  of  President 
Arthur  to  get  control  of  the  party  organization  in 
New  York  in  the  interest  of  his  own  or  Folger's 
nomination  for  the  presidency  in  1884. 

62 


PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS        63 

While  ostensibly  acquiescing  in  Folger's  candidacy, 
the  Elaine  followers  conspired  from  the  opening  of 
the  campaign  to  accomplish  his  defeat.  Only  half- 
hearted and  perfunctory  support  was  given  to  him 
in  the  Elaine  portion  of  the  Republican  press  of  the 
State,  and  every  effort  was  made  to  aggravate  the 
dissatisfaction  which  the  nomination  had  caused. 
Instead  of  working  heartily  and  zealously  to  "get 
out  the  vote"  on  election  day,  when  the  campaign 
reached  its  end,  systematic  effort  was  made  to  keep 
Republicans  from  going  to  the  polls,  the  "word  being 
passed"  that  the  best  and  most  effective  way  in 
which  to  rebuke  the  national  administration  for  in- 
terfering in  State  politics  was  not  to  vote  for  Cleve- 
land but  to  abstain  from  voting  at  all.  In  their  zeal 
the  Elaine  leaders  overdid  the  business,  for  their 
power  in  the  party  was  very  great,  with  the  result 
that  Cleveland  was  elected  by  a  plurality  of  192,000 
votes,  an  unprecedented  plurality  for  the  candidate 
of  any  party  in  New  York  previous  to  that  time. 
The  immediate  consequence  was  to  lift  Grover  Cleve- 
land into  national  prominence  and  make  him  a 
presidential  possibility  of  the  first  magnitude.  He 
was  hailed  at  once  by  the  Democrats  of  the  country 
as  the  Moses  for  whom  they  had  been  searching  so 
long  to  lead  them  out  of  the  wilderness  of  perpetual 
defeat. 

No  one  was  more  surprised  by  the  result  than 
Cleveland  himself.  He  had  neither  sought  nor  de- 
sired the  nomination  for  governor,  saying  frankly 


64        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

that  his  ambition  was  not  for  political  office  but  for 
a  judgeship  on  the  supreme-court  bench  of  the 
State.  A  quarter  of  a  centuiy  later  another  aspirant 
for  judicial  honors,  William  H.  Taft,  was  compelled 
by  various  influences  to  forego  the  ambition  of  his 
life  and  to  accept  a  nomination  for  the  presidency 
rather  than  an  appointment  to  the  bench  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 

When  he  saw  the  majority  by  which  he  had  been 
elected,  Mr.  Cleveland  said: 

It  is  an  astonishing  vote  of  confidence.  The  re- 
sponsibility is  great.  I  shrink  from  it.  I  doubt  my 
capacity.  I  doubt  my  knowledge.  But  I  mean  to 
go  down  to  Albany  and  do,  with  God's  help,  the  best 
there  is  in  me  for  the  people  of  the  State. 

His  conduct  as  governor  was  followed  with  close 
attention  by  the  whole  country,  much  to  his  own 
mystification,  for  he  said  one  day  to  one  of  his  inti- 
mates: "It  is  astonishing  what  close  watch  the  rest 
of  the  country  keeps  on  New  York  and  the  way  its 
State  government  is  administered."  When  told  that 
it  was  because  the  Democrats  of  the  country  regarded 
him  as  a  possible  presidential  candidate,  he  "frowned 
and  turned  the  conversation."  Just  before  the  news 
of  Elaine's  nomination  reached  him  he  said:  "Oh, 
neither  Elaine  nor  Arthur  will  be  nominated.  I  have 
observed  that  in  the  time  of  a  crisis  the  moral  sense 
of  the  Republican  party  comes  uppermost.  The 
crisis  is  here.  The  Republican  situation  demands 
the  nomination  of  Edmunds.  Edmunds  will  be  nom- 


AND  ELECTIONS  65 

mated."  He  had  scarcely  made  this  prediction  when 
the  nomination  of  Elaine  was  announced.  When  his 
associates  in  the  governor's  office  gathered  around 
him,  saying,  "Now  we  will  have  you  for  the  Demo- 
cratic nominee,"  he  said:  "Go  away,  boys,  and  let 
me  do  my  work  as  governor.  You're  always  trying 
to  get  me  into  a  scrape." 

The  quotations  which  I  have  made  above  of 
Mr.  Cleveland's  words  are  from  William  C.  Hud- 
son's "Random  Recollections  of  an  Old  Political 
Reporter,"  a  very  interesting  and  valuable  record  of 
close  personal  knowledge,  for  its  author  was  inti- 
mately associated  with  Mr.  Cleveland  from  the  time 
he  became  governor  till  his  election  to  the  presidency. 
His  narrative  bears  the  marks  of  authenticity  and 
truthfulness  throughout,  and  I  shall  quote  freely 
from  it  in  the  remaining  portions  of  this  chapter,  in 
full  confidence  that  it  is  veracious  history. 

Very  early  in  the  campaign  which  followed  the 
nominations  of  Elaine  and  Cleveland,  the  Republi- 
can managers  exploded  the  Maria  Halpin  scandal, 
which  for  a  time  fairly  paralyzed  the  Democratic 
canvass  and  seemed  to  make  the  election  of  Elaine  a 
certainty.  The  world  is  familiar  with  Cleveland's 
response  when  his  campaign  managers  asked  him 
what  they  should  do  about  it :  "Tell  the  truth ! "  It 
is  not  so  familiar  with  his  treatment  of  a  counter- 
scandal,  which  he  was  asked  to  allow  to  go  forth 
against  his  competitor.  Mr.  Hudson  was  an  eye- 
witness in  this  case,  and  I  shall  give,  somewhat  con- 
densed, his  account  of  it. 


66        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

Soon  after  the  Halpin  explosion  Daniel  Lamont, 
Cleveland's  private  secretary,  received  from  a  cor- 
respondent in  Kentucky  a  letter  addressed  to  Cleve- 
land, in  which  he  alleged  certain  incidents  in  the 
private  life  of  Mr.  Elaine,  which  he  said  he  could 
sustain  with  documentary  proofs,  copies  of  some  of 
which  he  enclosed.  The  writer  offered  to  proceed  to 
Albany  and  submit  his  proofs  in  person.  Lamont 
held  the  letter  and  papers  for  a  time  under  consider- 
ation, hesitating  about  showing  them  to  Mr.  Cleve- 
land, saying  that  the  governor  was  "  capable  of  toss- 
ing them  into  the  waste-basket."  Finally  he  sub- 
mitted them  to  him.  Mr.  Cleveland  read  them, 
folded  them  together  and  said:  "I'll  take  these.  Say 
nothing  about  them  to  any  one.  Send  f orchis  man 
to  bring  his  proof  as  soon  as  he  can.  Promise  to 
pay  his  expenses.  When  he  comes  bring  him  directly 
to  me.  I  will  deal  with  him."  When  the  man  ar- 
rived, had  been  taken  to  Mr.  Cleveland,  and  had 
delivered  to  him  his  documents,  the  following  collo- 
quy took  place,  Mr.  Cleveland  speaking  first: 

"Are  your  proofs  all  here?" 

"Yes,  sir,  all  of  them,"  replied  the  man. 

"Do  you  substantiate  by  these  papers  or  proofs 
all  of  the  promises  of  your  letter?" 

"I  am  sure  that  you  will  say  so  if  you  will  look 
the  papers  over,"  returned  the  man.  "They  are 
mostly  certified  copies  of  public  records  which,  taken 
in  their  place,  with  one  affidavit  and  three  private 
letters,  complete  the  whole  story." 


AND  ELECTIONS  67 

"Everything  is  here,  then,  and  you  are  holding 
nothing  in  reserve?"  persisted  Cleveland. 

"  Nothing,"  replied  the  man,  "  and  you  will  see  that 
by  running  over  the  indorsements  of  the  papers." 

Cleveland  did  so,  and  then  he  turned  to  Lament 
and  said: 

"Arrange  with  this  man  a  proper  sum  for  his 
expenses,  the  time  he  has  lost  and  his  good-will  in 
the  matter,  and  pay  him." 

When  the  man  had  gone  from  the  room,  Cleveland 
laid  the  papers  on  the  desk  before  him  and,  taking 
from  the  private  drawer  of  his  desk  some  others, 
handed  them  to  Lament,  saying: 

"These  are  the  ones  you  gave  me  the  other  day, 
are  they  not?" 

Lament  said  they  were,  giving  them  back  to 
Cleveland,  who  held  out  his  hand  for  them.  Then, 
drawing  a  waste-paper  basket  to  him,  the  governor 
began  to  tear  them  into  small  bits,  to  the  unbounded 
astonishment  of  Lamont  and  Hudson.  When  he  had 
finished  that  lot  he  took  up  the  proofs  brought  that 
morning  and  destroyed  them  in  the  same  manner. 
No  words  were  spoken  by  any  one  until  the  governor 
called  a  porter  and  directed  him  to  burn  in  the  fire- 
place the  scraps  of  paper,  standing  over  him  to 
watch  the  process.  WTien  all  were  consumed  he 
came  back  to  where  Lamont  and  Hudson  were  stand- 
ing, and  said  to  Lamont:  "The  other  side  can  have 
a  monopoly  of  all  the  dirt  in  this  campaign." 

Then  he  talked  about  something  else  and  did  not 


68        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

refer  to  the  matter  again.  Years  after  the  event 
Colonel  Lamont  said  that  Cleveland  never  afterward 
alluded  to  the  subject. 

Some  weeks  later  the  man  who  had  submitted  the 
documents,  perceiving  that  no  use  had  been  made 
of  them,  sought  Senator  A.  P.  Gorman,  chairman  of 
the  executive  committee  of  the  National  Democratic 
Committee,  and  informed  him  of  what  had  taken 
place.  Senator  Gorman  inquired  into  the  matter, 
and  when  he  had  learned  what  Mr.  Cleveland  had 
done,  he  said: 

The  destruction  of  that  proof  was  very  noble  and 
highminded  in  Mr.  Cleveland.  I  don't  know  whether, 
in  a  similar  position,  attacked  with  slander  as  he 
has  been,  I  could  have  reached  the  same  elevated 
plane.  Oh,  but  what  a  missed  opportunity  it  was ! 
In  my  hands,  without  publication  or  public  exploita- 
tion of  them,  I  could  have  used  those  papers  diplo- 
matically, to  have  made  the  other  side  eager  to  sup- 
press the  Halpin  scandal,  which  has  vexed  us  so,  and 
which  will  vex  us  to  the  end  of  the  campaign. 

In  the  exciting  days  which  followed  the  election, 
with  the  result  hanging  in  doubt  because  of  the  close 
vote  in  the  State  of  New  York,  Mr.  Cleveland  set 
himself  to  work  industriously  upon  the  business  of 
his  office,  apparently  taking  no  interest  in  the  fierce 
controversy  that  was  raging.  He  made  no  inquiries 
as  to  the  changing  situation  from  day  to  day.  If 
any  one  spoke  to  him  on  the  subject,  he  listened 
attentively,  but  made  no  comment,  maintaining  a 


Reproduced  by  courtesj 


"  Love's  labor  lost." 
From  "Puck." 


AND  ELECTIONS  69 

very  sober  demeanor  all  the  time.  On  the  tenth  day 
after  election,  when  news  was  brought  to  him  that 
the  Republicans  had  given  up  the  contest  and  had 
conceded  his  election,  he  said: 

I  am  very  glad  to  hear  it.  I  am  more  than  glad 
that  they  yield  peaceably.  For  in  any  event  I  should 
have  felt  it  my  duty  to  take  the  office  of  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  on  the  fourth  of  next 
March. 


CHAPTER  X 

REPUBLICAN  CONVENTIONS  BETWEEN  1868  AND  1908 

GENERAL  GRANT  was  a  virtually  unopposed  candi- 
date in  two  Republican  conventions,  those  of  1868 
and  1872.  On  each  occasion  only  one  ballot  was 
taken  and  he  received  every  vote.  His  fate,  when 
his  friends  made  him  a  candidate  for  a  third  nomina- 
tion in  1880,  is  set  forth  fully  in  a  separate  chapter. 
The  convention  of  1876,  in  which  Mr.  Elaine  was 
the  leading  candidate,  was  notable  for  the  large 
number  of  candidates,  "favorite  sons,"  each  of  whom 
had  a  considerable  following.  Besides  Mr.  Blaine, 
there  were  Senator  Morton,  of  Indiana;  Benjamin  H. 
Bristow,  of  Kentucky;  Senator  Conkling,  of  New 
York;  Governor  Hayes,  of  Ohio,  and  Governor  Hart- 
ranft,  of  Pennsylvania.  It  was  apparent  on  the 
first  ballot  that  if  the  five  candidates  named  after 
Mr.  Blaine  were  to  hold  their  united  strength  away 
from  him  he  could  not  be  nominated,  for  while  he 
had  285  votes  on  that  ballot,  their  combined  vote 
was  456,  and  379  constituted  a  majority.  His  vote 
rose  steadily  to  351  on  the  seventh  ballot,  but  on 
that  ballot,  Hayes,  who  had  started  with  only  61 
votes,  received  the  support  of  the  followers  of  Mor- 
ton, Conkling,  and  Hartranft,  giving  him  384  votes 
and  the  nomination.  Four  years  later,  the  nomina- 

70 


PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS         71 

tion  went  to  James  A.  Garfield  on  the  thirty-sixth 
ballot,  after  a  struggle  that  is  described  in  a  later 
chapter. 

In  the  convention  of  1884,  when  the  nomination 
that  Mr.  Elaine  had  been  seeking  with  great  assid- 
uity for  many  years  came  to  him,  he  received  it  on 
the  fourth  ballot,  having  gained  support  steadily 
from  the  first.  The  convention  of  1888  was  one  of 
the  longest  on  record,  lasting  from  June  19  to  June 
25,  both  inclusive.  There  were  nineteen  candidates 
on  the  first  ballot,  and  eight  ballots  were  taken. 
John  Sherman  led  till  the  seventh  ballot,  when 
Harrison  passed  him.  Harrison  had  80  votes  on  the 
first  and  increased  his  lead  steadily  till  the  eighth, 
when  he  received  544  and  the  nomination.  Four 
years  later  he  was  renominated  on  the  first  ballot. 
In  the  convention  of  1896  the  nomination  of  William 
McKinley  was  a  foregone  conclusion  when  the  dele- 
gates came  together,  and  it  went  to  him  on  the  first 
ballot.  Four  years  later  he  was  renominated  unani- 
mously, with  Theodore  Roosevelt  for  Vice-Presi- 
dent.  In  1904,  Roosevelt,  who  had  held  the  office 
of  President  for  three  years,  was  nominated  unani- 
mously, being  the  only  man  in  history  who  had 
reached  the  office  through  the  death  of  a  President 
to  be  so  honored. 

In  1908,  the  leading  candidate  for  the  nomination 
was  William  H.  Taft,  secretary  of  war  in  Roosevelt's 
Cabinet,  and  put  forward  by  Roosevelt  as  his  per- 
sonal choice  for  the  nomination.  I  was  present  in 


72        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

Washington  during  the  day  on  which  the  nomination 
was  made,  and  had  peculiar  facilities  for  observing 
the  bearing  of  the  President  and  the  secretary  of 
war  at  the  time.  Immediately  after  leaving  Wash- 
ington I  wrote  an  account  of  the  scenes  I  had  wit- 
nessed and  it  is  herewith  appended: 

The  Republican  national  convention  of  1908  met 
in  Chicago  on  Tuesday,  June  16.  That  day  and  the 
following  were  spent  in  the  usual  organization  pro- 
ceedings. On  Thursday,  June  18,  the  nominating 
speeches  were  made,  and  in  the  afternoon  the  first 
and  only  ballot  of  the  convention  was  taken. 

I  arrived  in  Washington  from  the  Isthmus  of 
Panama  via  New  York,  on  the  evening  of  July  17. 
About  eleven  o'clock  on  the  following  morning  I 
called  on  the  President  and  was  admitted  at  once  to 
his  private  office,  where  I  remained  till  1.30  p.  M., 
when  I  went  to  luncheon  with  him.  He  was  then 
in  constant  telegraphic  touch  with  the  party  man- 
agers at  Chicago,  and  was  kept  thoroughly  informed 
as  to  what  was  going  on  in  and  out  of  the  convention. 
His  chief  anxiety  was  lest  the  convention  should  be 
stampeded  for  himself.  During  the  early  afternoon 
several  private  telegrams  came  to  him  from  personal 
friends  in  Chicago,  saying  that  unless  he  made  a 
fresh  and  most  emphatic  declaration  that  he  would 
not  accept  a  nomination,  the  convention  would  name 
him  in  spite  of  all  efforts  to  the  contrary.  He  was 
much  disturbed  by  these  messages  and  asked  me  if 
I  thought  he  should  make  a  further  declaration,  get- 


AND  ELECTIONS  73 

ting  from  his  secretary,  Mr,  Loeb,  copies  of  letters 
and  telegrams  that  he  had  already  sent  to  Senator 
Lodge  and  others  defining  his  position.  I  read  these 
carefully  and  found  them  so  emphatic  and  unequiv- 
ocal that  I  advised  him  to  say  nothing  further,  ex- 
pressing the  opinion  that  if  he  were  repeatedly  to 
follow  one  denial  with  another  he  would  make  him- 
self ridiculous,  for  no  fresh  denial  could  be  couched 
in  more  emphatic  and  conclusive  language  than  he 
had  already  used.  He  accepted  this  view. 

We  went  to  the  White  House  for  luncheon  at 
1.30  P.  M.  There  was  only  one  other  guest  present. 
The  table  was  set  in  the  open  air  on  the  south  porch, 
looking  out  past  the  Washington  Monument  over 
the  Potomac.  Mrs.  Roosevelt  and  the  children  were 
present  and  the  meal  was  a  delightful  and  informal 
family  affair.  From  time  to  time  telegrams  contin- 
ued to  be  handed  to  the  President,  some  of  them 
still  begging  for  an  additional  renunciation,  but  he 
adhered  to  his  determination  not  to  make  reply. 
He  had  strong  faith  that  Taft  would  be  nominated 
but  could  not  quite  rid  himself  of  uneasiness  about  it. 

I  remained  with  the  President  till  about  4  p.  M., 
when  I  went  to  the  War  Department,  on  personal 
invitation  of  Secretary  Taft,  and  was  admitted  at 
once  to  his  private  office,  in  which  he  was  sitting 
with  his  wife,  daughter,  younger  son  Charlie  and  a 
half  dozen  or  more  personal  friends. 

Mrs.  Taft  sat  in  her  husband's  chair  at  his  desk 
in  the  centre  of  the  room,  while  he  sat  at  one  side  in 


74        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

a  group  of  friends.  Bulletins  were  being  received 
constantly  from  the  convention  by  telegraph  and 
telephone.  These  were  brought  from  the  outer  office 
by  Charlie  Taft  and  handed  to  his  mother,  who  read 
them  aloud.  The  first  ones  read  described  the  nom- 
inating speeches  made  in  behalf  of  the  various  can- 
didates and  the  scenes  in  the  convention.  When 
Taft  was  placed  in  nomination,  successive  bulletins 
were  received  describing  the  cheering,  the  length  of 
time  it  was  enduring,  its  volume  and  accompanying 
demonstrations.  The  secretary  sat  calm  and  com- 
posed during  this  time,  but  Mrs.  Taft  was  obviously 
in  great  agitation.  "I  only  want  it  to  last  more 
than  forty-nine  minutes,"  she  exclaimed.  "I  want 
to  get  even  for  the  scare  that  Roosevelt  cheer  of 
forty-nine  minutes  gave  me  yesterday."  The  con- 
vention had  cheered  for  that  length  of  time  for 
Roosevelt  on  the  previous  day.  Mr.  Taft  merely 
smiled  and  said:  "Oh,  my  dear,  my  dear!" 

Word  soon  came  that  the  nominating  speeches  had 
all  been  made,  and  the  convention  would  proceed  to 
a  ballot.  There  was  a  sigh  of  relief  from  the  little 
company,  and  a  brief  period  of  breathless  eagerness 
followed.  Then  Charlie  came  in  with  a  bulletin 
which  he  handed  to  his  mother.  Her  face  went 
deathly  white,  and  with  visible  effort  she  read  (I 
quote  from  memory) :  "  A  large  portrait  of  Roosevelt 
has  been  displayed  on  the  platform  and  the  conven- 
tion has  exploded." 

A  silence  as  of  death  fell  upon  the  room.    Mrs. 


AND  ELECTIONS  75 

Taft  sat  white  as  marble  and  as  motionless,  Mr. 
Taft  tapped  with  his  fingers  on  the  arm  of  his  chair 
and  whistled  softly.  No  one  said  a  word  or  looked 
at  his  neighbor.  A  minute  or  two  later  Charlie 
entered  with  another  bulletin,  which  he  handed  to 
his  mother,  and  which  she  read  with  impassive  voice 
and  face.  (Again  I  quote  from  memory,  but  the 
substance  is  of  unquestionable  accuracy):  "A  huge 
American  flag  with  a  Roosevelt  portrait  upon  it  is 
being  carried  about  the  hall,  and  the  uproar  con- 
tinues with  increased  fury." 

That  awful  silence  continued  for  several  minutes, 
which  seemed  endless,  when  again  Charlie  entered 
with  a  bulletin  and  which  his  mother,  almost  leaping 
from  her  chair  in  excitement,  read:  " Massachusetts 
gives  26  votes  for  Taft." 

Everybody  was  on  his  feet  in  a  minute,  asking, 
"Why,  how  did  they  get  to  Massachusetts?  Is  it 
possible  they  began  the  roll  of  States  in  the  middle  ?  " 
Nobody  could  solve  the  mystery,  and  it  was  not 
solved  till  the  next  day,  when  the  reports  of  the  con- 
vention proceedings  showed  that  Senator  Lodge,  who 
was  chairman,  ordered  the  roll-call  to  begin  in  the 
midst  of  the  uproar  as  the  surest  means  of  stopping 
the  final  effort  for  a  Roosevelt  stampede. 

Quickly  following  the  Massachusetts  bulletin  came 
others,  and  within  a  few  minutes  the  nomination  was 
announced,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Taft  were  in  the 
centre  of  a  swarm  of  congratulations  from  their 
friends  and  from  a  great  crowd  that  came  surging 


76        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

in  through  the  opened  doorways.  It  is  needless  to 
add  that  Mrs.  Taft's  face  had  more  than  regained 
its  normal  color.  She  was  the  personification  of  a 
proud  and  happy  wife. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  THIRD-TERM  CONVENTION 

THE  Republican  convention  of  1880  had  the  exciting 
aspects  of  a  great  battle.  More  than  three-fourths 
of  its  delegates  were  divided  into  two  nearly  equal 
opposing  forces,  each  compactly  organized,  each  ably 
led,  each  thoroughly  determined  upon  victory,  and 
each  uncompromisingly  hostile  to  the  other.  Be- 
tween them  stood  a  tradition  which  dated  back  to 
the  very  beginning  of  the  Republic  and  which  one  of 
them  was  seeking  to  overthrow  while  the  other  was 
ostensibly  upholding  it.  The  attention  of  the  whole 
country  had  been  aroused  by  a  discussion  of  the 
issue  thus  raised,  which  had  been  in  progress  for  sev- 
eral months,  and  the  convention  came  together 
amid  a  more  intense  and  acute  public  interest  than 
had  been  aroused  by  any  similar  gathering  for  many 
years. 

Soon  after  the  close  of  his  second  term  as  President, 
General  Grant  went  abroad  on  a  tour  of  the  world, 
receiving  the  highest  honors  from  the  chief  rulers 
of  the  earth  in  every  country  that  he  visited.  He 
returned  to  the  United  States  in  September,  1879, 
landing  at  San  Francisco.  He  was  received  there 
with  a  great  demonstration  of  popular  admiration, 

77 


78        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

and  started  thence  across  the  country  on  what 
proved  to  be  a  veritable  triumphal  march.  E very- 
city  in  which  he  stopped  greeted  him  with  tumul- 
tuous enthusiasm,  with  great  crowds,  banquets,  and 
receptions.  Nothing  surpassing  this  demonstration 
of  popular  enthusiasm  has  ever  been  witnessed  in 
this  country.  Even  after  he  had  reached  his  home 
in  Galena  it  continued  unabated.  When  he  went  a 
few  weeks  later  to  attend  a  reunion  of  the  Army  of 
the  Cumberland  in  Chicago,  more  than  100,000 
people  poured  into  that  city  from  the  surrounding 
country  to  greet  him.  Again,  when  late  in  the  year 
he  started  on  a  tour  from  Chicago  across  Indiana, 
Ohio,  and  Pennsylvania,  to  complete  the  circuit  of 
the  world  at  Philadelphia,  his  biographers  record 
that  "it  was  the  same  old  story  in  every  city — in 
Logansport,  in  Indianapolis,  in  Columbus,  in  Cin- 
cinnati— one  continuous  blaze  of  boundless  enthu- 


siasm." 


It  was  then  generally  recognized  that  he  was  a 
candidate  for  a  third  term.  The  press  of  the  coun- 
try was  absorbed  in  the  discussion  of  the  ques- 
tion, and  constant  efforts  were  made  in  the  early 
part  of  1880  to  get  an  expression  from  him  of  his 
attitude  in  the  matter.  The  most  that  he  would 
say  was  this:  "I  will  neither  accept  nor  decline  an 
imaginary  thing.  I  shall  not  gratify  my  enemies  by 
declining  what  has  not  been  offered  me.  I  am  not  a 
candidate  for  anything,  and  if  the  Chicago  conven- 
tion nominates  a  candidate  who  can  be  elected  I  shall 


AND  ELECTIONS  79 

be  glad.  All  my  life  I  have  made  my  decision  when 
the  time  for  the  decision  has  arrived.  I  shall  not 
depart  from  my  usual  course  of  action."  He  went 
on  a  visit  to  Cuba  and  Mexico  in  March,  and  from 
the  Mexican  border  wrote  to  his  friend  Elihu  B. 
Washburne : 

In  regard  to  your  suggestion  that  I  should  author- 
ize some  one  to  say  that  in  no  event  would  I  consent 
to  ever  becoming  a  candidate  after  1880, 1  think  any 
statement  from  me  would  be  misconstrued  and  would 
only  serve  as  a  handle  for  my  enemies.  Such  a 
statement  might  well  be  made  after  the  nomination, 
if  I  am  nominated  in  such  a  way  as  to  accept.  It  is 
a  matter  of  supreme  indifference  to  me  whether  I 
am  or  not.  There  are  many  persons  I  should  prefer 
to  have  the  office  than  myself.  I  owe  so  much  to 
the  Union  men  of  the  country  that  if  they  think  my 
chances  are  better  for  election  than  for  other  prob- 
able candidates  in  case  I  should  decline,  I  cannot 
decline  if  the  nomination  is  tendered  without  seeking 
on  my  part. 

He  came  back  to  the  United  States  in  April,  land- 
ing at  New  Orleans  and  journeying  north  through 
Southern  cities  amid  scenes  identical  with  those  that 
had  marked  his  journey  across  the  continent  from 
San  Francisco  a  few  months  earlier.  When  he 
reached  Chicago  he  was  greeted  with  an  immense 
meeting,  at  which  he  was  openly  proclaimed  as  a 
candidate  for  a  third  term,  the  announcement  being 
formally  made  that  he  would  accept  the  nomination 


80        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

if  it  came  in  the  right  way.  He  then  went  to  his 
home  in  Galena  and  did  not  leave  there  again  till 
the  Chicago  convention  had  completed  its  work. 

The  convention  met  in  Chicago  on  June  2.  Sen- 
ator Conkling  was  the  leader  of  the  Grant  forces  and 
Senator  Hale  was  the  leader  of  those  of  Elaine.  Both 
bodies  of  delegates  were  the  outcome  of  as  thorough 
and  as  systematic  work  as  had  ever  been  done  in 
behalf  of  a  presidential  aspirant.  During  General 
Grant's  absence,  his  friends  had  been  laboring  in- 
cessantly for  him,  and  the  supporters  of  Mr.  Elaine, 
thinking  they  had  in  the  third-term  issue  a  battle- 
cry  that  would  prove  irresistible,  had  worked  for  him 
with  that  ceaseless  vigor  and  enthusiasm  which  only 
men  feel  for  a  political  idol,  and  Mr.  Blame  was  the 
idol  of  a  larger  number  of  members  of  his  party  than 
any  man  in  this  country  had  been  since  Henry  Clay. 

In  the  opening  proceedings  of  the  convention  it 
was  shown  that  it  was  war  to  the  finish  between 
the  two  forces,  with  no  quarter  either  given  or 
asked.  At  every  session  there  was  an  immense 
throng  of  spectators,  more  than  ten  thousand  in 
number,  composed  mainly  of  partisans  of  the  two 
factions,  and  carefully  selected  and  organized.  From 
his  first  utterance  in  the  convention  to  the  last,  Mr. 
Conkling's  manner  was  one  studied  taunt  to  his 
opponents.  Nothing  approaching  it  in  arrogance 
and  insolence  has  been  witnessed  in  a  political  con- 
vention, either  before  or  since.  If  there  had  been 
any  chance  of  a  compromise  of  one  faction  in  favor 


AND  ELECTIONS  81 

of  the  other,  he  destroyed  it  utterly  in  the  first  half 
hour. 

His  first  act  was  to  move  a  resolution  binding 
the  members  of  the  convention  to  support  the 
nominee,  whoever  he  might  be.  In  doing  this  he 
took  pains  to  intimate  with  unmistakable  plain- 
ness his  belief  that  the  Elaine  men  would  bolt  in 
case  Grant  was  nominated,  unless  they  were  pledged 
in  advance  not  to  do  so.  This  resolution  was  adopted, 
but  the  debate  upon  it  made  him  the  most  unpopu- 
lar man  in  the  convention  with  the  supporters  of  all 
other  candidates  than  Grant,  and  thus  debarred  the 
latter  from  hope  of  recruits.  His  next  important 
effort  was  to  have  the  unit  rule  enforced  upon  all 
delegations  in  order  that  a  majority  in  each  should 
be  able  to  cast  the  solid  vote  of  the  State  for  the 
candidate  of  their  choice.  Under  this  rule  Mr. 
Conkling  would  have  been  able  to  cast  the  70  votes 
of  New  York  for  Grant,  although  there  were  only 
51  delegates  in  Grant's  favor,  17  being  for  Elaine 
and  two  for  John  Sherman.  He  would  have  made 
similar  gains  for  Grant  in  several  other  States. 

In  this  effort  he  was  as  offensive  as  he  had  been 
in  his  previous  one,  and  he  was  defeated  in  it  chiefly 
through  the  agency  of  General  Garfield,  who,  as 
chairman  of  the  committee  on  rules,  reported  ad- 
versely on  the  proposition  and  led  the  debate  in 
support  of  his  report  upon  the  floor  of  the  conven- 
tion, closing  it  with  a  brief  speech,  so  full  of  fire  and 
genuine  eloquence  that  it  not  only  routed  Conkling, 


82        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

but  so  stirred  the  convention,  literally  as  with  the 
sound  of  a  trumpet,  that  when  the  time  came  to 
look  for  a  compromise  candidate,  the  delegates,  with 
the  speech  still  ringing  in  their  ears,  turned  to  the 
man  who  had  made  it  and  hailed  him  as  their  choice. 
"Adopt  the  unit  rule  if  you  will,"  General  Garfield 
had  said  in  closing,  "and  I  will  be  bound  by  it;  adopt 
the  individual  rule,  and  I  will  be  bound  by  that,  for 
two  great  reasons:  First,  because  you  make  it  the 
rule;  second,  because  I  believe  it  to  be  everlastingly 
right."  That  phrase,  " everlastingly  right,"  sounded 
the  doom  of  the  Grant  movement  and  proclaimed 
the  coming  of  the  candidate  to  be,  for  the  conven- 
tion could  not  forget  it  or  the  man  who  had  uttered  it. 

A  long  chapter  might  be  filled  with  Mr.  Conkling's 
astounding  arrogance.  In  the  first  important  dis- 
cussion, when  he  was  seeking  to  have  his  resolution 
binding  the  delegates  adopted,  the  chairman  of  a 
Southern  delegation  began  to  say  something  in  pro- 
test. Mr.  Conkling  leaped  from  his  seat,  strode 
down  the  aisle  to  where  the  man  was  standing,  placed 
both  hands  on  his  shoulders  and  saying:  "Sit  down, 
sir,  sit  down!"  fairly  forced  him  into  his  seat  amid 
hisses  and  jeers  from  all  parts  of  the  hall. 

In  his  speech  nominating  Grant  he  went  out  of 
his  way  to  give  mortal  offense  to  the  Elaine  forces 
and  to  all  other  elements  of  the  convention  that  were 
opposing  Grant.  That  speech  was  said  at  the  time 
to  have  been  a  really  remarkable  effort  of  convention 
oratory.  It  was  undoubtedly  delivered  with  great 


AND  ELECTIONS  83 

dramatic  effect,  and  it  had  many  striking  phrases,  as 
all  Mr.  Conkling's  speeches  had,  for  he  was  an  ac- 
complished phrase-maker;  but  read  at  the  present 
day,  after  thirty-six  years  of  repose,  it  seems  arti- 
ficial, labored,  and,  in  many  parts,  bombastic.  Its 
famous  opening  passage,  set  down  in  cold  type, 
surely  comes  very  near  doggerel:  "When  asked 
whence  comes  our  candidate,  our  sole  response  shall 
be,  he  hails  from  Appomattox  and  its  famous  apple- 
tree."  In  his  written  copy  of  the  speech,  which  was 
given  out  in  advance  to  the  press,  he  had  this  simple 
sentence  at  the  beginning:  "When  asked  whence 
comes  our  candidate,  we  say  from  Appomattox." 
There  is  dignity,  simplicity,  and  dramatic  force  in 
that  sentence,  which  is  certainly  not  to  be  found  in 
the  "improved"  version  which  seems  to  have  been 
an  inspiration  of  the  moment. 

Aimed  straight  at  Mr.  Elaine  and  so  accepted  by 
his  supporters,  were  the  following  passages,  which 
came  soon  after  the  opening  of  the  speech:  "With 
him  (Grant)  as  our  leader,  we  shall  have  no  defensive 
campaign,  no  apologies  or  explanations  to  make." 
"Without  patronage  or  power,  without  telegraph 
wires  running  from  his  home  to  the  convention,  with- 
out election  contrivance,  without  effort  on  his  part, 
his  name  is  on  his  country's  lips."  Turning  toward 
those  members  of  the  New  York  delegation  who  had 
refused  to  vote  for  Grant,  he  said,  in  speaking  of  the 
supporters  of  Grant:  "They  hold  the  rightful  rule 
of  the  majority  as  the  very  essence  of  their  faith,  and 


84        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

they  mean  to  uphold  that  faith  against  not  only  the 
common  enemy,  but  against  the  charlatans  and  jay- 
hawkers  and  guerillas — the  men  who  deploy  be- 
tween the  lines  and  forage  now  on  the  one  side  and 
then  on  the  other."  One  of  his  phrases  which  had 
quite  along-lived  vogue  was:  "His  (Grant's)  fame 
was  born  not  alone  of  things  written  and  said,  but  of 
the  arduous  greatness  of  things  done." 

When  the  balloting  began  and  it  was  his  duty  as 
chairman  of  the  New  York  delegation  to  announce 
its  vote,  he  did  so  with  studied  insolence  toward  the 
anti-Grant  members.  His  favorite  formula  was: 
"Two  of  the  New  York  delegates,  Mr.  Chairman, 
are  said  to  be  for  Mr.  Sherman,  17  for  Mr.  Elaine. 
Fifty-one  are  for  Grant."  He  repeated  this  with 
slight  variations  till  the  chairman  of  the  West  Vir- 
ginia delegation  mimicked  his  manner  and  method 
so  perfectly  that  the  whole  convention  roared.  After 
that  he  did  not  venture  on  further  repetition,  but 
resorted  to  such  sayings  as  that  a  member  who  was 
absent  was  possibly  "meditating  some  new  form  of 
treachery." 

This  convention  was,  perhaps,  the  most  tumul- 
tuous ever  held.  The  15,000  persons  in  attendance 
upon  its  regular  sessions  united  in  "demonstrations" 
that  were  of  frequent  occurrence,  sometimes  as  often 
as  twice  or  three  times  in  a  single  session.  At  one 
of  the  early  evening  sessions  the  mention  of  General 
Grant's  name  started  a  wild  uproar,  which  lasted  for 
thirty  minutes.  The  whole  vast  assemblage  ap- 


AND  ELECTIONS  85 

peared  to  take  part  in  it.  In  the  centre  of  the  hall, 
where  the  New  York  delegation  sat,  appeared  the 
majestic  figure  of  Senator  Conkling,  standing  upon  a 
chair,  and  slowly  waving  to  and  fro  the  delegation's 
banner,  which  was  floating  from  a  tall  staff,  while 
from  all  parts  of  the  hall  there  came  a  roar  as  steady 
and  solid  and  deep  as  that  of  Niagara.  In  one  part 
of  the  hall  a  great  body  of  people  could  now  and  then 
be  heard  singing  "Glory,  glory,  hallelujah/7  and  in 
another  part  others  singing  "Marching  through 
Georgia."  Thirty  minutes  by  the  watch  this  pan- 
demonium reigned,  and  then  it  died  out  from  sheer 
exhaustion. 

The  mention  of  Elaine's  name  started  a  fresh 
outbreak,  a  great  raar  rising  from  all  parts  of  the 
house  at  once.  Flags,  parasols,  umbrellas,  shawls, 
and  handkerchiefs  were  waving  frantically  in  all  di- 
rections, and  in  the  height  of  the  din  a  well-dressed 
woman,  who  was  standing  on  the  platform,  leaped 
upon  the  pedestal  of  a  small  statue  of  Liberty  in 
front  of  her,  and,  leaning  forward  over  its  head, 
waved  a  parasol  wildly  to  and  fro,  at  every  swing  of 
which  the  huge  crowd  cheered.  Then  she  caught  up 
a  flag,  and,  winding  it  about  her  figure,  called  anew 
for  cheers  for  Blaine,  arousing  an  indescribable  tu- 
mult. 

In  the  Maine  delegation  was  to  be  seen  Senator 
Hale,  standing  on  the  shoulders  of  his  colleagues, 
and  holding  high  in  air  upon  its  staff  the  shield  of 
the  State  of  Maine.  All  the  time  the  steady  roar  of 


86        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

thousands  of  throats  continued  without  a  percepti- 
ble break,  till,  having  been  kept  up  for  thirty-five 
minutes,  five  minutes  longer  than  the  Grant  roar,  it 
died  out  as  suddenly  as  it  had  begun.  Thus  for 
more  than  an  hour  the  convention  had  transformed 
itself  into  a  howling  mob,  for  no  other  purpose  than 
to  show  that  one  candidate  had  as  many  friends 
present  as  the  other.  Previous  to  these  outbreaks 
there  had  been  a  similar  one,  a  day  earlier,  when 
Elaine's  name  was  mentioned,  and  there  were  still 
others  when  the  nominating  speeches  were  made. 

These  contests  in  sheer  noise  had  no  appreciable 
effect  upon  the  balloting  for  the  two  chief  candi- 
dates; they  did  not  change  a  vote  from  one  to  the 
other  apparently.  General  Grant  led  on  the  first 
ballot  with  304  votes;  Elaine  came  next  with  284, 
Sherman  had  93,  Washburne  31,  and  Edmunds  33. 
The  number  necessary  for  a  choice  was  378.  For 
thirty-six  ballots  the  struggle  was  continued,  Grant's 
highest  number  being  313  on  the  thirty-fifth  and 
Elaine's  being  the  highest  on  the  first,  falling  to  257 
on  the  thirty-fifth  and  to  42  on  the  final  ballot. 
Grant's  vote  stood  at  306  on  the  final  ballot  when 
Garfield  was  nominated. 

A  graphic  picture  of  General  Grant's  demeanor 
while  receiving  news  of  the  balloting  is  given  in 
Hamlin  Garland's  "Life  of  Grant."  He  made  his 
headquarters  at  the  office  of  his  old  staff  officer, 
Rowley,  in  Galena,  where  the  bulletins  were  received. 
When  a  bulletin  came  announcing  the  presentation 


AND  ELECTIONS  87 

of  his  name  by  Conkling,  and  saying  that  after  the 
Appomattox  passage  the  applause  had  lasted  for 
several  minutes,  the  "general  betrayed  no  excite- 
ment, scarcely  interest.  A  thoughtful  look  was  on 
his  face."  When  a  second  bulletin  was  read  saying 
the  "applause  continues,"  a  third  saying  "all  order 
is  lost;  the  hall  is  one  surging  mass  of  humanity," 
the  general's  friends  assured  him  that  it  was  settled 
and  that  he  would  be  nominated  on  the  first  ballot. 
He  "moved  uneasily  in  his  chair  and  his  face  dark- 
ened a  little."  Then  he  rose  abruptly,  saying  to  his 
son:  "Come,  Buck,  let's  go  home."  When  he  got 
into  the  street  he  walked  some  distance  in  silence, 
then  drew  a  deep  sigh  and  said:  "I  am  afraid  I  am 
going  to  be  nominated."  When  several  days  later 
the  news  of  Garfield's  nomination  came,  General 
Grant  said:  "Garfield  is  a  good  man.  I  am  glad  of 
it.  Good  night,  gentlemen."  To  his  intimate  friends 
later  he  made  this  complaint:  "My  friends  have  not 
been  honest  with  me.  I  can't  afford  to  be  defeated. 
They  should  not  have  placed  me  in  nomination  un- 
less they  felt  perfectly  sure  of  my  success."  Colonel 
McClure  says  in  his  recollections: 

On  the  morning  after  the. convention  adjourned  he 
came  to  Chicago,  and  I  met  him  at  the  Palmer  House, 
where  he  had  come  to  confer  with  his  discomfited 
friends.  His  face  gave  no  sign  of  the  disappoint- 
ment he  had  suffered.  He  met  his  friends  in  even  a 
more  genial  way  than  was  his  custom.  He  ex- 
pressed himself  as  entirely  content  with  the  decision 


88        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

of  the  convention,  and  greatly  appreciated  the  sup- 
port that  had  been  given  him.  He  never  looked 
better  in  his  life,  and  while  I  could  not  congratulate 
him,  I  could  truthfully  express  my  gratification  at 
seeing  him  the  picture  of  health  and  comfort. 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  TWO-THIRDS  RULE  AND  ITS  EFFECTS 

As  pointed  out  in  a  previous  chapter,  the  two-thirds 
rule  was  adopted,  under  President  Jackson's  direc- 
tion, in  the  first  national  Democratic  convention 
ever  held,  that  of  1832.  He  found  it  useful  in  ac- 
complishing his  object  in  that  convention,  which  was 
the  nomination  of  Martin  Van  Buren  for  Vice- 
President  on  a  ticket  with  himself  for  re-election. 
Four  years  later  the  rule  was  vigorously  attacked  in 
convention,  and  a  motion  to  reject  it  was  carried  by 
a  vote  of  231  to  210.  On  the  following  day  this 
vote  was  reconsidered  and  the  rule  again  adopted. 
Van  Buren  was  nominated  unanimously  for  the 
presidency  and  elected.  In  1840  another  effort  was 
made  in  the  Democratic  convention  to  reject  the 
rule,  and  again  defeated.  Van  Buren  was  renomi- 
nated  unanimously,  but  was  defeated  in  the  election 
by  William  Henry  Harrison.  In  1848  Van  Buren 
was  again  a  candidate,  but  on  this  occasion  the  rule 
proved  an  insurmountable  obstacle  to  his  hopes. 
His  supporters  endeavored  to  have  the  rule  rejected, 
but  were  defeated  by  a  vote  of  148  in  favor  of  its 
adoption  to  118  against  it.  He  had  a  majority  of 
26  on  the  first  ballot,  but  could  not  get  two-thirds. 
In  1852  another  effort  was  made  to  get  rid  of  the 

89 


90        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

rule,  but  after  a  long  debate  it  was  adopted  by  a 
vote  of  175  to  78. 

In  1856  Stephen  A.  Douglas  was  a  candidate,  as 
he  had  been  in  1852,  with  enough  supporters  to  pre- 
vent any  other  candidate  from  getting  two-thirds, 
but  as  soon  as  his  chief  competitor,  Mr.  Buchanan, 
received  a  majority  vote  of  the  convention,  Douglas, 
who  was  second  in  the  poll,  withdrew  in  his  favor, 
because  he  had  been  a  persistent  opponent  of  the 
rule  and  felt  bound  to  bow  to  the  will  of  the  major- 
ity. Finally,  in  1860,  when  the  Democratic  conven- 
tion at  Charleston  split  into  two  factions,  and  held 
separate  conventions,  the  two-thirds  rule  was  adopted 
by  both,  and  Douglas  received  a  worthless  nomina- 
tion from  one,  but  though  the  rule  prevailed  in  both 
conventions,  neither  of  the  candidates  nominated 
could  be  said  to  have  received  a  two-thirds  vote 
from  a  full  party  convention.  In  fact,  the  rule  may 
be  said  to  have  hastened,  if  it  did  not  cause,  the 
wreck  of  the  party,  for  it  led  to  its  certain  defeat 
by  forcing  it  to  put  two  tickets  in  the  field. 

Yet  this  experience  in  1860  did  not  avail  to  shake 
the  party's  faith  in  the  rule,  for  it  has  been  adopted, 
usually  without  debate,  in  all  subsequent  conven- 
tions down  to  the  present  time. 

In  each  presidential-election  year  there  has  been 
much  talk  in  advance  of  the  assembling  of  the  con- 
vention about  the  two-thirds  rule,  but  in  none  of 
the  conventions  has  there  been  a  serious  discussion 
of  the  matter.  It  is  usually  adopted  with  the  regu- 


AND  ELECTIONS  91 

lar  rules  of  procedure  in  the  preceding  convention. 
In  writing  of  the  vote  to  sustain  the  rule  in  1844, 
Stanwood,  in  his  " History  of  the  Presidency,"  says: 

The  Northern  delegates  had  it  in  their  power  to 
defeat  the  rule,  and  yet,  being  perfectly  well  aware 
that  the  adoption  of  the  two-thirds  requirement 
handicapped  the  candidate  they  professed  to  sup- 
port, they  lent  themselves  to  the  scheme  of  his 
opponents.  The  conclusion  is  inevitable  that  they 
were  willing  that  he  should  be  sacrificed,  but  that 
they  did  not  quite  venture  to  appear  with  daggers 
in  their  own  hands. 

This  theory  is  not  necessary  to  explain  the  atti- 
tude of  the  various  factions  in  the  party  of  to-day. 
One  can  easily  see  why  the  supporters  of  one  candi- 
date should  uphold  the  two-thirds  rule,  for  it  enables 
them,  by  simply  controlling  a  third  of  the  conven- 
tion, to  prevent  the  nomination  of  any  one  whom 
they  dislike.  Each  faction,  in  short,  believes  that 
the  rule  is  the  most  effective  club  of  all  to  swing 
over  the  heads  of  a  rival  faction.  That  it  is  thor- 
oughly undemocratic  seems  not  to  disturb  them.  It 
is  no  more  so  than  the  unit  rule,  yet  both  became 
established  methods  of  procedure  in  Democratic  con- 
ventions, though  they  have  been  rejected  by  Repub- 
lican conventions  as  contrary  to  the  fundamental 
principle  of  American  institutions — that  is,  rule  by 
the  majority. 

In  the  various  Democratic  conventions  between 
1864  and  1884  few  efforts  were  made  to  prevent  the 


92        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

adoption  of  either  of  the  rules.  General  McClellan 
was  nominated  in  1864  and  Horatio  Seymour  in 
1868,  with  both  rules  in  force.  In  1872  Horace 
Greeley  had  more  than  two-thirds  vote  on  the  first 
ballot  of  the  Democratic  convention,  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  or  more  he  had 
been  a  vigorous  and  persistent  assailant  of  the  party. 
Samuel  J.  Tilden  was  without  formidable  rival  in 
1876,  and  secured  more  than  the  required  two-thirds 
vote  on  the  second  ballot.  Four  years  later  General 
Hancock,  who  had  been  balloted  for  in  the  conven- 
tions of  1868  and  1872,  received  nearly  the  entire 
vote  of  the  convention  on  the  third  ballot,  having 
had  only  171  votes  on  the  first,  his  chief  competitor, 
Senator  Samuel  F.  Bayard,  having  153}^.  Han- 
cock's nomination  was  a  surprise  to  the  convention 
as  well  as  to  the  country.  It  was  due  partially  to 
the  doubt  which  existed  down  to  the  very  beginning 
of  the  balloting,  as  to  whether  or  not  Mr.  Tilden 
was  a  candidate  for  renomination. 

When  Grover  Cleveland  came  before  the  conven- 
tion for  his  first  nomination  in  1884,  the  two-thirds 
rule  was  adopted  without  opposition,  but  a  deter- 
mined effort,  led  by  the  Tammany  delegation  from 
New  York,  which  was  opposed  to  Cleveland,  was 
made  to  reject  the  unit  rule.  It  was  defeated,  and 
the  rule  was  adopted  by  about  100  majority.  Cleve- 
land was  nominated  on  the  second  ballot,  his  nearest 
competitor  being  Senator  Bayard,  who  received  only 
170  votes  and  these  only  on  the  first  ballot.  In 


AND  ELECTIONS  93 

1888  Cleveland  was  renominated  unanimously  with- 
out a  formal  vote  being  taken,  he  being  the  first  can- 
didate since  Van  Buren  in  1840  to  be  so  honored. 
He  was  defeated  by  Harrison  in  the  election,  but  in 
1892  he  was  again  renominated,  on  the  first  ballot, 
receiving  617>£  votes,  or  10}^  more  than  the  neces- 
sary two-thirds.  In  the  election  he  defeated  Harri- 
son, thus  squaring  accounts  with  him. 

In  1896  came  the  convention  at  Chicago,  in  which 
William  Jennings  Bryan  carried  the  convention  by 
storm  in  his  famous  "crown  of  thorns  and  cross  of 
gold"  speech.  There  was  no  opposition  made  to 
either  the  two-thirds  or  the  unit  rule.  The  free-sil- 
ver contingent  seized  control  of  the  convention  at 
the  outset,  electing  as  temporary  chairman  their  own 
candidate  over  the  candidate  proposed  by  the 
National  Committee,  by  a  vote  of  556  to  349.  There 
were  five  ballots  taken.  Bryan  started  with  119 
votes  and  rose  steadily  to  500  on  the  final  ballot, 
receiving  the  nomination.  His  speech  in  defense  of 
free-silver  coinage  holds  undisputed  rank  as  the 
" greatest  effort  of  his  life."  Its  closing  passage, 
which  gave  it  its  title  and  fairly  carried  the  conven- 
tion off  its  head,  was: 

We  shall  answer  their  demand  for  the  gold  stand- 
ard by  saying  to  them:  "You  shall  not  press  down 
upon  the  brow  of  labor  this  crown  of  thorns.  You 
shall  not  crucify  mankind  upon  a  cross  of  gold !" 

Immortal  bit  of  fustian,  it  should  be  placed  on  the 
record  as  a  sample  of  the  awful  possibilities  which 


94        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

lie  in  convention  oratory.  In  1900;  Bryan  had  more 
than  two-thirds  of  the  convention  on  the  first  ballot 
and  was  then  nominated  by  acclamation. 

Between  1900  and  1904  the  free-silver  craze  sub- 
sided, and  this  fact,  together  with  the  recognized 
popular  strength  of  President  Roosevelt,  whose 
nomination  was  a  certainty,  convinced  Mr.  Bryan, 
who  had  been  defeated  twice  at  the  polls,  that  it  was 
not  a  favorable  year  for  him  to  make  a  third  attempt. 
When  the  Democratic  convention  assembled  the 
Bryan  men  were  strong  enough  in  the  committee  on 
platform  to  have  a  plank  upholding  the  gold  stand- 
ard that  had  been  prepared  struck  out  of  the  plat- 
form. This  action  had  been  acquiesced  in  by  ex- 
Senator  David  B.  Hill,  of  New  York,  the  personal 
representative  of  Alton  B.  Parker,  of  that  State, 
who  was  the  leading  candidate  for  the  presidential 
nomination  by  the  convention.  The  Bryan  mem- 
bers of  the  committee  were  also  strong  enough  to  get 
a  resolution  inserted  in  the  platform  denouncing 
"Protection  as  a  robbery  of  the  many  for  the  benefit 
of  the  few."  There  Mr.  Bryan's  control  of  the  con- 
vention ended.  Parker  was  nominated  on  the  first 
ballot,  with  more  than  a  two-thirds  vote.  As  soon 
as  news  of  the  convention's  action  reached  him  he 
sent  the  following  telegram  over  the  head  of  Senator 
Hill  to  William  F.  Sheehan,  of  the  New  York  dele- 
gation: 

I  regard  the  gold  standard  as  firmly  and  irrevo- 
cably established,  and  shall  act  accordingly  if  the 


AND  ELECTIONS  95 

action  of  the  convention  to-day  shall  be  ratified  by 
the  people. 

As  the  platform  is  silent  on  the  subject,  my  views 
should  be  made  known  to  the  convention,  and  if 
they  prove  to  be  unsatisfactory  to  the  majority,  I 
request  you  to  decline  the  nomination  for  me  at 
once,  so  that  another  may  be  nominated  before  ad- 
journment. 

When  this  was  read  to  the  convention  the  follow- 
ing answer  was  adopted  by  a  vote  of  774  to  191 : 

The  platform  adopted  by  this  convention  is  silent 
on  the  question  of  the  monetary  standard,  because 
it  is  not  regarded  by  us  as  a  possible  issue  in  this 
campaign,  and  only  campaign  issues  were  mentioned 
in  the  platform.  Therefore  there  is  nothing  in  the 
views  expressed  by  you  in  the  telegram  just  received 
which  should  preclude  a  man  entertaining  them  from 
accepting  a  nomination  on  said  platform. 

In  1908  Mr.  Bryan,  encouraged  by  the  defeat 
which  had  overwhelmed  Mr.  Parker  in  1904  and  by 
the  nomination  of  Mr.  Taft  as  the  successor  of 
President  Roosevelt,  became  a  candidate  for  the 
third  time  and  had  no  difficulty  in  obtaining  the 
nomination.  Indeed,  the  Democratic  convention 
was  a  roaring  mob  in  his  favor  from  start  to  finish. 
At  the  first  mention  of  his  name  in  the  opening  ses- 
sion the  delegates  cheered  and  yelled  for  nearly  an 
hour  and  a  half  without  cessation.  When  he  was 
placed  in  nomination  at  the  evening  session  of  the 
second  day,  another  uproar,  of  almost  equal  dura- 


96        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

tion,  followed.  His  nomination  at  the  final  session 
on  the  first  ballot  by  nearly  the  entire  vote  of  the 
convention  led  to  a  third  demonstration  of  like  noise 
and  duration. 

The  latest  victim  of  the  two-thirds  rule  was  Champ 
Clark,  speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
who  went  down  to  defeat  before  it  in  the  national 
Democratic  convention  of  1912,  at  Baltimore.  A 
notable  departure  from  established  precedent  was 
made  by  this  convention.  The  unit  rule,  under 
which  a  State  delegation  must  cast  its  solid  vote  for 
the  candidate  favored  by  a  majority  of  its  members, 
and  which  had  withstood  all  assaults  for  three- 
quarters  of  a  century,  was  abrogated,  so  far  as  it 
was  in  the  power  of  the  convention  to  do  so.  A 
minority  report  from  the  committee  on  rules  was 
presented  in  which  it  was  recommended  that  dele- 
gates from  congressional  districts  elected  through 
preferential  primaries  and  instructed  to  vote  for  par- 
ticular candidates  should  not  be  bound  by  resolu- 
tions of  State  conventions  instructing  the  entire 
State  delegation  to  vote  as  a  unit.  Preferential  pri- 
maries had  been  held  in  several  States  in  congres- 
sional districts  and  delegates  had  been  elected  com- 
mitted to  the  support  of  specified  candidates.  In 
the  same  States  delegates-at-large  had  been  elected 
in  favor  of  other  candidates,  in  which  resolutions  had 
been  passed  instructing  the  entire  State  delegation 
to  vote  as  a  unit  in  accordance  with  the  will  of  the 
majority  of  its  members.  For  example,  there  were 


AND  ELECTIONS  97 

18  district  delegates  from  Ohio  instructed  in  primary 
elections  to  support  Woodrow  Wilson,  and  the  State 
convention  had  chosen  delegates-at-large  in  favor  of 
Judson  Harmon,  and  had  passed  resolutions  in- 
structing the  entire  State  delegation  to  vote  as  a 
unit.  As  the  majority  of  the  delegation  was  in  favor 
of  Harmon,  the  18  Wilson  votes  would,  under  the 
rule,  be  taken  from  Wilson  and  given  to  Harmon. 

There  were  several  States  in  which  similar  condi- 
tions prevailed.  Appeals  were  made  in  favor  of 
maintaining  the  unit  rule  as  "true  Jeffersonian  Dem- 
ocratic doctrine, "  as  indeed  it  was,  and  the  argument 
was  made  that  if  the  unit  rule  were  abolished  there 
would  be  no  excuse  for  retaining  the  two-thirds  rule, 
for  one  was  the  necessary  concomitant  of  the  other. 
But  the  new  popular  voice  heard  in  the  preferential 
primaries  had  more  power  in  this  convention  than 
it  had  been  able  to  command  in  the  Republican  con- 
vention at  Chicago  in  the  same  year,  and  the  minor- 
ity report  abrogating  the  unit  rule  was  adopted  by 
a  vote  of  565^  to  491^. 

If  the  convention  had  been  logical  and  consistent 
it  would  have  followed  this  action  with  the  repeal  of 
the  two-thirds  rule,  but  no  proposal  of  that  kind  was 
made,  although  the  suggestion  had  been  made  in 
the  debate.  The  consequence  was  that  Mr.  Clark 
failed  of  a  nomination,  although  he  had  a  clear  ma- 
jority of  the  delegates  in  his  favor.  The  abrogation 
of  the  unit  rule  had  considerably  improved  the 
chances  of  his  chief  rival,  Mr.  Wilson,  but  had  not 


98        PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

made  Mr.  Clark's  nomination  possible,  because  of 
the  barrier  of  the  two-thirds  rule.  He  led  in  the 
balloting  from  the  start,  and  maintained  his  lead 
during  thirty  ballots,  having  a  clear  majority  in 
nine,  touching  his  highest  number,  556,  in  the  tenth. 
There  were  1,086  delegates  and  725  votes  were  nec- 
essary for  a  nomination,  so  that  Clark  at  his  highest 
point  was  169  votes  short.  His  support  began  to 
crumble  on  the  thirtieth  ballot,  when  Wilson  passed 
him,  and  on  the  forty-third  a  mild  "stampede" 
began  for  Wilson,  ending  in  his  nomination  on  the 
forty-sixth,  the  vote  standing  Wilson  990,  Clark  84, 
Harmon  12. 

Mr.  Clark  was  very  angry  over  his  defeat,  and 
immediately  following  Wilson's  nomination  he  gave 
out  for  publication  a  statement  in  which,  after  assert- 
ing that  he  had  received  200,000  majority  in  the 
States  in  which  he  and  Wilson  had  competed  in  the 
primaries,  he  added:  "I  lost  the  nomination  solely 
through  the  vile  and  malicious  slanders  of  Colonel 
William  Jennings  Bryan,  of  Nebraska.  True,  these 
slanders  were  by  innuendo  and  insinuation,  but  they 
were  no  less  deadly  for  that  reason/'  In  the  same 
statement  he  said:  "I  will  support  Governor  Wilson 
with  whatever  power  I  possess  and  hope  he  will  be 
elected." 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  "STEAM-ROLLER"  CONVENTION 

A  FINAL  demonstration  that  the  convention  system 
of  nominating  candidates  for  President  and  Vice- 
President  had  passed  completely  into  the  control  of 
party  leaders  or  bosses  was  made  by  the  Republican 
national  convention  which  met  in  Chicago  in  June, 
1912.  That  control  had  been  increasing  steadily  for 
many  years.  As  shown  in  previous  chapters,  the 
convention  system  was  first  put  into  national  use  by 
Andrew  Jackson  in  1832,  who  employed  it  to  bring 
about  the  nomination  of  Van  Buren,  an  unpopular 
candidate,  for  Vice-President  on  the  ticket  with 
himself,  when  he  was  running  for  re-election.  It 
was  adopted  by  the  Whigs  in  1839,  and  was  adroitly 
manipulated  by  Thurlow  Weed  to  prevent  the  nom- 
ination of  Henry  Clay  for  President,  Weed  himself 
admitting  that  Clay  had  a  "decided  plurality  of  the 
delegates "  when  the  convention  came  together  in 
December  of  that  year.  The  politicians  of  those 
days,  forced  by  popular  hostility  to  abandon  the 
caucus  system  of  nomination,  accepted  what  was 
professed  to  be  a  popular  method,  but  from  the  first 
they  conspired  to  minimize  and,  so  far  as  possible, 
destroy  its  popular  or  representative  character. 
Later  politicians,  pursuing  their  invariable  prac- 

99 


100      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

tise  of  seeking  to  "beat"  an  objectionable  system 
or  law,  have  followed  zealously  in  their  foot-steps. 
Every  succeeding  national  convention  has  passed  a 
little  more  completely  under  their  control.  Until  the 
convention  of  1912,  prudent  regard  for  popular 
opinion  led  them  to  exercise  their  power  as  unosten- 
tatiously as  possible,  but  the  Republican  bosses  at 
Chicago  in  1912  threw  off  all  attempt  at  concealment 
or  disguise  and  assumed  openly  that  the  convention 
had  been  called  together  for  the  purpose  merely  of 
registering  their  will  and  not  the  will  of  the  people 
who  had  chosen  the  delegates.  The  perfection  to 
which  years  of  expert  manipulation  had  brought  the 
convention  machinery  made  it  easy  for  them  to 
accomplish  their  purposes  and  cite  party  law  and 
precedent  for  every  arrogant  and  arbitrary  act,  as 
they  could  also  be  cited  against  every  such  act. 
Whatever  they  did  they  were  able  to  make  a  plausi- 
ble claim  to  strict  "regularity." 

The  convention  was  the  first  in  our  political  his- 
tory in  which  there  were  delegates  who  had  been 
elected  directly  by  the  people  in  preferential  pri- 
maries. There  were  382  of  these  and  they  came 
from  thirteen  States — California,  Georgia,  Illinois, 
Maryland,  Massachusetts,  Nebraska,  New  Jersey, 
North  Dakota,  Ohio,  Oregon,  Pennsylvania,  South 
Dakota,  and  Wisconsin.  These,  with  the  exception 
of  the  Massachusetts  delegates,  had  been  instructed 
directly  and  specifically  to  vote  for  the  nomination  of 
certain  candidates.  In  most  of  these  States,  a  large 


AND  ELECTIONS  101 

majority  of  the  delegates  had  been  instructed  for 
Theodore  Roosevelt.  He  had  26  in  California;  56  in 
Illinois;  16  in  Maryland;  18  in  Massachusetts;  16  in 
Nebraska;  28  in  New  Jersey;  34  in  Ohio;  10  in  Ore- 
gon; 64  in  Pennsylvania;  10  in  South  Dakota — 278 
in  all.  President  Taft  had  28  in  Georgia;  2  in  Illi- 
nois; 18  in  Massachusetts;  8  (by  popular  choice)  in 
Ohio;  12  in  Pennsylvania — 68  in  all.  Senator  La 
Toilette  had  26  in  Wisconsin  and  10  in  South  Dakota 
—36  in  all. 

The  total  number  of  delegates  in  the  convention 
was  1,078,  and  540  were  necessary  for  a  nomination. 
When  the  convention  came  together  both  the  Taft 
and  Roosevelt  leaders  claimed  a  majority.  In  a 
canvass  of  the  delegates,  published  by  the  New  York 
Tribune,  which  was  a  strong  Taft  advocate,  a  few 
days  before  the  opening  of  the  convention,  the  num- 
ber of  delegates  who  had  expressed  their  preference 
for  Roosevelt  was  placed  at  469^,  and  of  those 
similarly  committed  to  Taft  at  454J^.  This  was 
clear  admission  that  Roosevelt  had  a  larger  number 
of  delegates  avowedly  in  his  favor  than  Taft  had. 
The  seats  of  more  than  200  delegates  were  contested, 
and  in  accordance  with  established  procedure  in  the 
party  all  contests  were  referred  to  the  National 
Republican  Committee  for  investigation  and  report 
to  the  convention. 

The  committee  assembled  at  Chicago  ten  days 
in  advance  of  the  meeting  of  the  convention.  Sev- 
eral of  its  most  influential  members  had  been  de- 


102      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

feated  in  the  election  of  delegates  and  were  not  to 
be  members  of  the  convention.  These  were  known 
to  be  bitterly  opposed  to  Mr.  Roosevelt,  and  it  was 
quite  generally  asserted  in  the  press  that  they  would 
use  their  power  to  prevent  his  nomination  by  so 
deciding  the  contests  as  to  secure  a  majority  of  the 
convention  against  him.  It  was  claimed,  also,  that 
in  accordance  with  precedent,  the  committee  had 
authority  to  make  up  the  temporary  roll  of  the  con- 
vention, and  thus  secure  control  of  its  organization. 
The  composition  of  the  committee  was  peculiar. 
It  had  been  the  practise  for  many  years  for  each 
State  delegation  to  nominate  and  for  the  conven- 
tion, at  the  close  of  its  work,  to  ratify  the  choice  of 
members  of  its  National  Committee  to  serve  for  the 
ensuing  four  years.  In  this  way  each  National 
Committee,  through  its  control  over  contests,  had  it 
in  its  power  to  make  up  the  roll  of  the  next  succeed- 
ing convention,  although  many  or  even  a  majority  of 
its  members  might  not  be  delegates  in  that  body. 
In  1912  fifteen  members  of  the  committee  had  failed 
in  their  efforts  to  be  chosen  delegates;  many  of  them 
had  been  thus  repudiated  by  their  own  party  by 
very  large  majorities.  The  total  membership  of  the 
committee  was  53.  Of  this  number  10  were  from 
the  Southern  States,  not  one  of  which  would  give  the 
nominee  of  the  convention  an  electoral  vote,  and 
four  others  were  from  territorial  possessions — Dis- 
trict of  Columbia,  Alaska,  Hawaii,  Philippines,  and 
Porto  Rico — which  took  no  part  in  presidential  elec- 


AND  ELECTIONS  103 

tions.  These  three  sets  of  members,  29  in  all,  actu- 
ally represented  nobody  in  the  convention,  yet  they 
were  its  controlling  and  dominating  force.  The 
members  of  the  committee  who  had  been  most  sig- 
nally repudiated  by  their  own  people  were  the  lead- 
ers in  all  acts  of  the  committee,  and  with  them  stood 
unswervingly  on  all  questions  the  Southern  and  ter- 
ritorial members. 

The  first  act  of  the  committee  was  to  elect  Victor 
Rosewater,  of  Nebraska,  who  had  failed  to  be  elected 
a  delegate,  chairman,  he,  as  vice-chairman  of  the 
committee,  having  been  acting  chairman  because  of 
the  death  of  the  occupant  of  that  position.  The 
moving  spirits  in  the  committee  were  Senator  Pen- 
rose,  of  Pennsylvania,  and  Senator  Crane,  of  Massa- 
chusetts, both  defeated  as  delegates,  and  both,  like 
Mr.  Rosewater,  not  eligible  for  re-election  as  members 
of  the  National  Committee.  The  unconcealed  prom- 
inence of  these  repudiated  leaders  in  the  business  of 
making  up  the  temporary  roll  of  the  convention, 
and  thereby  securing  control  of  it,  very  naturally 
aroused  earnest  protest,  and  impaired  confidence  in 
the  strict  impartiality  of  the  committee's  decisions. 

But  party  precedent  authorized  it,  and  protest 
and  appeal  were  vain.  The  leaders  of  the  committee 
had  the  courage  of  their  kind.  They  went  about 
their  task  openly  and  with  slight  regard  for  either 
the  rights  or  the  merits  of  their  opponents.  They 
adopted  a  set  of  rules,  the  chief  of  which  was  that 
there  should  be  no  roll-call  save  on  the  request  of 


104       PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

twenty  members,  refusing  to  cut  it  down  to  ten, 
though  under  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
one-fifth  of  members  present  is  a  sufficient  number 
for  a  roll-call  in  the  Senate  or  House  of  Representa- 
tives. Having  a  solid  and  unshakable  majority  of 
thirty-seven  in  the  committee,  the  leaders  knew  that 
twenty  members  could  not  be  collected  in  opposi- 
tion, and  that  embarrassing  roll-calls  could  thus  be 
avoided.  Although  President  Taft  sent  a  personal 
request  that  the  hearings  of  the  committee  on  con- 
tests be  thrown  open  to  members  of  the  press,  the 
committee  voted  to  hold  them  behind  closed  doors, 
admitting  only  representatives  of  the  three  or  four 
press  associations. 

It  was  after  the  committee  had  refused  to  reduce 
the  number  of  names  required  for  a  roll-call  from 
twenty  to  ten  that  the  brand  of  "Steam  Roller"  was 
applied  to  the  committee's  course.  It  was  applied 
subsequently  to  the  course  of  the  convention,  and 
adopted  into  general  use  both  by  the  press  in  report- 
ing its  proceedings  and  by  delegates  on  the  floor. 

Although  the  doors  were  closed  to  reporters  gen- 
erally, an  occasional  bit  of  illuminating  information 
escaped  from  the  committee  room.  One  such  was 
published  in  the  Chicago  Tribune  on  June  8,  a  few 
days  after  the  committee  began  its  work,  as  follows : 

While  the  ninth  Alabama  contest  was  under  con- 
sideration, Senator  W.  Murray  Crane  suggested  to 
several  members  of  the  committee  that  it  would  be 
wise  tactics  to  seat  the  Roosevelt  delegates. 


From  a  photograph  copyright  by  Underwood  &  Underwood. 

The  Republican  convention,  Chicago,  June  18,  1912. 


AND  ELECTIONS  105 

"Big  Steve"  Stephenson,  of  Colorado,  who  holds 
a  proxy  from  former  Senator  Nathan  B.  Scott,  of 
West  Virginia,  is  reported  to  have  replied: 

"We  can't  afford  to  let  them  have  it.  We  might 
be  able  to  spare  two  votes  now,  but  we  must  look 
ahead  to  the  time  when  we  will  have  to  give  them 
something.  We  can't  do  it  now." 

When  the  ninth  district  contest  was  settled  by  a 
vote  of  38  to  15  in  favor  of  the  Taft  forces,  National 
Committeeman  Mulvane,  an  ardent  Taft  man  of 
Kansas,  said  to  a  man  friendly  to  Colonel  Roosevelt : 

"Now  you  fellows  have  got  an  inkling  of  what  you 
are  going  to  get.  Are  you  going  to  waste  our  time 
going  over  all  these  contests?" 

"What  do  you  fellows  intend  to  do?"  Mulvane 
was  asked.  "You  know  you  surely  can't  elect 
Taft." 

To  which  Mulvane  is  said  to  have  responded: 

"We  can't  elect  Taft,  but  we  are  going  to  hold 
on  to  this  organization,  and  when  we  get  back  four 

years  from  now  we  will  have  it  and  not  those  d 

insurgents." 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  committee's  work,  it  was 
announced  officially  that  92  contests  had  been  inves- 
tigated and  decided;  there  had  been  no  roll-calls  in 
74  decisions;  roll-calls  in  16;  unanimous  vote  in  4, 
and  2  contests  had  been  abandoned.  The  net  result 
was  that  233  of  the  contested  delegates  were  given 
to  Taft  and  6  to  Roosevelt.  The  daily  records  of  the 
proceedings  of  the  committee  were  published  in  the 
newspapers  of  the  country  under  such  head-lines  as 
the  "Steam  Roller  Continues  Its  Work."  "The 
Steam  Roller  Goes  on  Crushing  Out  Roosevelt 


106      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

Hopes."  The  "Steam  Roller  Gives  Forty-Two 
More  Votes  to  Taft — None  to  Roosevelt." 

A  full  review  of  these  92  contests  would  be  tedious 
even  if  it  were  possible  to  make  it  judicially,  which 
is  far  from  being  the  case.  The  principle  at  stake 
between  the  two  contending  forces  was  the  elemen- 
tary one  of  representative  government.  Both  Roose- 
velt and  Taft  had  taken  their  stand  upon  it  during 
the  primary  elections  for  delegates.  When  the  pri- 
maries in  Massachusetts  resulted  in  the  choice  of 
eight  Roosevelt  delegates-at-large,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  gave  by  a  very  small  majority — about  3,000 
votes — an  expression  of  preference  for  Taft,  Colonel 
Roosevelt  at  once  announced  that  he  should  demand 
that  this  expression  be  obeyed  by  the  eight  delegates, 
although  they  had  been  explicitly  chosen  as  Roose- 
velt men,  giving  as  his  reason  that  he  intended  to 
have  the  honest  preference  of  the  rank  and  file 
obeyed.  This  was  near  the  beginning  of  the  contest. 

Soon  afterward  opportunity  came  to  Mr.  Taft  to 
show  if  he  intended  to  adhere  to  this  standard. 
On  the  eve  of  the  primaries  in  Ohio  Mr.  Taft  de- 
clared in  the  press  that  the  result  of  those  would 
settle  the  contest  between  himself  and  Colonel 
Roosevelt  for  the  Republican  nomination  for  the 
presidency.  Colonel  Roosevelt  carried  them  by 
47,000  majority,  but  neither  Mr.  Taft  nor  his  man- 
agers accepted  this  result  in  Mr.  Taft's  home  State 
as  settling  the  contest.  On  the  contrary,  by  adroit 
manipulation  at  the  State  convention  which  fol- 


AND  ELECTIONS  107 

lowed  closely  upon  the  primaries,  the  Taft  managers, 
in  flat  defiance  of  the  expressed  popular  will,  secured 
the  election  of  the  six  delegates  at  large  and  had 
them  instructed  for  Mr.  Taft.  A  similar  course  was 
followed  by  the  Taft  managers  in  Indiana,  Michigan, 
and  other  States  in  which  the  opportunity  existed. 

When  the  convention  came  together  it  was  pre- 
dicted almost  or  quite  universally  by  the  newspaper 
correspondents  in  attendance  that  Taft's  nomination 
had  been  assured  by  the  action  of  the  National 
Committee,  since  the  " Steam  Roller"  would  pursue 
its  course  as  inflexibly  in  the  convention  as  it  had  in 
the  committee.  This  prediction  was  fulfilled  liter- 
ally. At  the  first  session  formal  protest  was  made 
by  the  Roosevelt  leaders  against  allowing  seventy- 
four  delegates,  whose  seats  had  been  contested  and 
whose  names  had  been  placed  on  the  temporary  roll 
of  the  convention,  to  vote  in  the  election  of  tempo- 
rary chairman,  since  by  so  doing  each  would  be  vot- 
ing upon  his  own  right  to  a  seat. 

In  making  the  protest  Governor  Hadley  of  Mis- 
souri placed  very  clearly  before  the  convention  the 
real  issue  involved,  which  was  simply  whether  the 
convention  itself  or  the  National  Committee  was  to 
nominate  the  candidate  for  the  presidency.  He  said : 

Were  this  question  simply  one  of  principle  I  would 
have  no  doubt  what  the  decision  would  be;  because 
upon  a  question  of  principle,  if  it  is  within  the  power 
of  the  thirty-seven  men  to  say  who  shall  constitute 
the  majority  of  a  convention,  then  we  have  ceased 


108      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

to  recognize  the  principle  of  representative  govern- 
ment in  this  country  in  the  conduct  of  the  Repub- 
lican party.  We  have  but  one  form  of  government 
in  this  country,  and  that  is  government  by  political 
parties,  and  if  the  decisions  of  parties  in  convention 
can  be  finally  controlled  by  those  who  make  up  the 
temporary  roll,  then  we  have  established  within  a  po- 
litical organization  a  political  oligarchy  with  power 
to  make  candidates  and  to  defeat  candidates;  with 
power  to  pass  laws  and  to  veto  laws. 

It  is  interesting  to  recall  that  a  similar  protest  was 
made  twenty-eight  years  earlier  by  the  man  in  whose 
interest  Governor  Hadley  was  speaking.  In  the  con- 
vention of  1884,  at  which  Elaine  was  nominated  for 
the  presidency,  Theodore  Roosevelt  was  a  delegate 
from  New  York.  The  National  Committee  named 
ex-Senator  Powell  Clayton,  of  Arkansas,  for  tempo- 
rary chairman.  When  its  action  was  reported  to  the 
convention,  Henry  Cabot  Lodge,  a  delegate  from 
Massachusetts,  nominated  in  opposition  ex-Con- 
gressman John  B.  Lynch,  of  Mississippi,  who  was  a 
negro.  The  point  was  raised  immediately  that  for 
years  the  National  Committee  had  selected  the 
chairman,  with  subsequent  approval  by  the  conven- 
tion, and  to  elect  Mr.  Lynch  would  be  to  "override 
precedent. "  George  William  Curtis  and  Silas  B. 
Butcher,  delegates  from  New  York,  seconded  the 
nomination  of  Mr.  Lynch,  and  then,  according  to  the 
correspondent  of  the  New  York  Tribune,  "Theodore 
Roosevelt,  sitting  by  George  William  Curtis,  also 
made  a  speech,  showing  himself  for  the  first  time  to 


AND  ELECTIONS  109 

the  Western  people,  and  being  somewhat  cheered. 
His  square  head,  matted  with  short,  dry,  sandy  hair, 
and  his  eye-glass  and  nervously  forcible  gestures 
were  remarked."  Mr.  Roosevelt's  speech  in  full  was 
as  follows: 

I  trust  that  the  motion  made  by  the  gentleman 
from  Massachusetts  (Mr.  Lodge)  will  be  adopted, 
and  that  we  will  select  as  chairman  of  this  convention 
that  representative  Republican,  Mr.  Lynch,  of  Mis- 
sissippi. Mr.  Chairman,  it  has  been  said  by  the  dis- 
tinguished gentleman  from  Pennsylvania  (Mr.  Stew- 
art) that  it  is  without  precedent  to  reverse  the  action 
of  the  National  Committee.  Who  has  not  known 
numerous  instances  where  the  action  of  a  State  com- 
mittee has  been  reversed  by  the  State  convention? 
Not  one  of  us  but  has  known  such  instances.  Now 
there  are,  as  I  understand  it,  but  two  delegates  to  this 
convention  who  have  seats  on  the  National  Committee; 
and  I  hold  it  to  be  derogatory  to  our  honor,  to  our 
capacity  for  self-government,  to  say  that  we  must  accept 
the  nomination  of  a  presiding  officer  by  another  body; 
and  that  our  hands  are  tied,  and  we  dare  not  reverse  its 
action. 

Now,  one  word  more.  I  trust  that  the  vote  will 
be  taken  by  individual  members,  and  not  by  States. 
Let  each  man  stand  accountable  to  those  whom  he 
represents  for  his  vote.  Let  no  man  be  able  to  shelter 
himself  behind  the  shield  of  his  State.  What  we  say  is, 
that  one  of  the  cardinal  doctrines  of  the  American  politi- 
cal government  is  the  accountability  of  each  man  to  his 
people;  and  let  each  man  stand  up  here  and  cast  his 
vote,  and  then  go  home  and  abide  by  what  he  has  done. 

It  is  now,  Mr.  Chairman,  less  than  a  quarter  of  a 


110      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

century  since,  in  this  city,  the  great  Republican 
party  for  the  first  time  organized  for  victory,  and 
nominated  Abraham  Lincoln,  of  Illinois,  who  broke 
the  fetters  of  the  slave  and  rent  them  asunder  for- 
ever. It  is  a  fitting  thing  for  us  to  choose  to  preside 
over  this  convention  one  of  the  race  whose  right  to 
sit  within  these  walls  is  due  to  the  blood  and  the 
treasure  so  lavishly  spent  by  the  founders  of  the 
Republican  party.  And  it  is  but  a  further  vindica- 
tion of  the  principles  for  which  the  Republican  party 
so  long  struggled.  I  trust  that  the  Honorable  Mr. 
Lynch  will  be  elected  temporary  chairman  of  this 
convention. 

Colonel  Roosevelt's  position  in  1912  was  in  com- 
plete accord  with  that  taken  by  him  in  1884,  and 
was  in  no  sense  the  outcome  of  later  conditions. 
His  protest  in  1884,  like  that  of  Governor  Hadley, 
in  1912,  was  aimed  at  the  assumption  that  a  National 
Committee,  composed  mainly  of  men  who  were  not 
delegates  in  the  convention,  should  dictate  the  con- 
vention's action  in  utter  disregard  of  the  principles 
of  representative  government.  The  convention  of 
1884,  not  being  under  Steam-Roller  control,  heeded 
Mr.  Roosevelt's  protest  and  elected  Mr.  Lynch  by  a 
vote  of  431  in  his  favor  to  382  for  General  Clayton. 
In  1912,  however,  the  appeal  of  Governor  Hadley 
was  made  to  a  very  different  body  of  delegates.  By 
that  time  precisely  such  a  " political  oligarchy"  as 
he  described  had  been  established  within  the  party, 
firmly  intrenched  behind  precedent,  and  this  the 
Steam-Roller  operators  proceeded  to  demonstrate. 


AND  ELECTIONS  111 

The  rejected  delegate  who  was  in  the  chair  by  virtue 
of  being  chairman  of  the  National  Committee,  had 
been  coached  in  advance  for  the  emergency  and  was, 
so  to  speak,  " loaded"  to  meet  it.  He  ruled  against 
the  protest,  taking  from  his  pocket  a  carefully  pre- 
pared document  in  which  it  was  claimed  that  his 
decision  was  in  accordance  with  party  precedent  of 
more  than  half  a  centuiy. 

Mr.  Finley  Peter  Dunne  ("Mr.  Dooley"),  who 
was  present  in  the  convention,  wrote  and  published 
this  account  of  the  incident  in  the  American  Maga- 
zine of  September,  1912: 

After  Mr.  Victor  Rosewater  had  been  instructed 
in  his  duties  as  acting  chairman  of  the  National 
Committee  by  the  delectable  three — William  Barnes, 
Jr.,  Murray  Crane,  and  Boise  Penrose — and  had 
rehearsed  his  decision  on  the  right  of  the  National 
Committee  to  seat  the  Taft  delegates  (which  was 
prepared  for  him)  until  he  was  almost  letter  perfect, 
and  was  about  to  retire  to  his  sleepless  couch,  the 
Senator  from  Pennsylvania  genially  said  to  him: 
"Victor,  as  soon  as  you've  made  that  decision  jump 
off  the  platform,  for  some  one  is  going  to  take  a 
shot  at  you,  sure."  The  effect  of  this  kindly  counsel 
upon  young  Mr.  Rosewater  was  not  soothing.  Yet 
he  made  the  decision.  There  is  no  doubt  about  that. 
It  is  in  the  official  record,  written  down  by  the  official 
reporters  the  night  before.  But  no  one  heard  him 
make  it.  The  actual,  physical  disposition  of  the 
decision  is  unknown.  The  impression  of  those  who 
sat  in  front  of  the  chairman  and  watched  the  play  of 
his  throat  muscles  was  that  he  swallowed  it. 


112       PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

After  this  ruling  there  was  no  doubt  as  to  the  dom- 
inating power  of  the  National  Committee  over  the 
convention.  The  Steam  Roller  went  smoothly,  re- 
lentlessly, and  even  proudly  forward,  crushing  out  all 
opposition.  The  committee's  choice  for  temporary 
chairman,  Senator  Elihu  Root,  was  placed  in  nom- 
ination and,  by  the  votes  of  the  74  contested  dele- 
gates whose  names  had  been  placed  on  the  roll  by 
the  committee,  was  elected.  The  result  of  the  bal- 
lot showed  how  vital  their  votes  were,  for  the  figures 
were  558  for  Mr.  Root  and  501  for  his  chief  opponent, 
with  19  scattering  and  not  voting.  To  have  taken 
chances  with  less  than  74  votes  would  have  been 
reckless,  for  the  Steam  Roller  would  have  been 
thrown  off  the  track,  thus  making  the  convention 
itself  the  nominating  power. 

When  Mr.  Root  had  taken  the  chair  and  had  de- 
livered his  address,  the  Roosevelt  leaders  renewed 
their  protest  against  allowing  the  74  contested  dele- 
gates to  vote  in  the  selection  of  committees  of  the 
convention,  including  the  committee  on  credentials. 
Mr.  Root  overruled  the  protest,  sustaining  his  de- 
cision on  the  ground  of  party  precedent  and  parlia- 
mentary practise.  In  giving  his  decision,  he  said: 

No  man  can  be  permitted  to  vote  upon  the  ques- 
tion of  his  own  right  to  a  seat  in  the  convention,  but 
the  rule  does  not  disqualify  any  delegate  whose  name 
is  upon  the  roll  from  voting  upon  the  contest  of  any- 
other  man's  right  or  from  participating  in  the  ordi- 
nary business  of  the  convention  so  long  as  he  holds 


AND  ELECTIONS  113 

his  seat.  Otherwise,  any  minority  could  secure  con- 
trol of  a  deliberative  body  by  grouping  a  sufficient 
number  of  their  opponents  in  one  motion,  and  by 
thus  disqualifying  them  turn  the  minority  into  a 
majority  without  any  decision  upon  the  merits  of 
the  motion.  ...  To  hold  that  a  member  whose 
seat  is  contested  may  take  no  part  in  the  proceedings 
of  this  body  would  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  if  every 
seat  were  contested,  as  it  surely  would  be  if  such  a 
rule  were  adopted,  there  could  be  no  convention  at 
all,  as  nobody  would  be  entitled  to  participate. 

Thus  the  National  Committee's  control  of  the 
convention  was  claimed  to  be  in  accordance  with 
precedent.  The  claim  could  have  been  made  with 
equal  justice  for  the  reverse  course.  Either  claim 
would  have  been  purely  technical.  The  true  test 
was,  Did  Mr.  Root  and  his  fellows  in  good  faith  seek 
to  find  out  and  give  effect  to  the  honestly  expressed 
wish  of  the  rank  and  file  of  the  Republican  party? 
The  answer  must  be  that  they  did  not,  for  that  an- 
swer was  returned  at  the  polls  by  the  members  of 
the  rank  and  file  themselves  in  the  subsequent 
election. 

After  the  decision  was  announced  Colonel  Roose- 
velt instructed  his  delegates  to  take  no  further  part 
in  the  deliberations  of  the  convention.  An  offer  had 
been  brought  to  him  to  turn  over  a  sufficient  num- 
ber of  Southern  delegates  to  secure  either  his  own 
nomination  or  that  of  any  one  he  would  designate. 
Colonel  Roosevelt  answered — and  this  statement  is 
made  upon  unimpeachable  authority — that  he  was 


114      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

not  interested  in  the  fortunes  of  himself  or  any  other 
one  man,  but  in  certain  great  fundamental  principles 
which  affected  the  right  of  honest  self-government; 
that  if  the  roll  was  purged  he  would  accept  the  nom- 
ination of  any  man  made  by  the  convention,  but  if 
the  roll  was  not  purged  he  would  neither  accept  a 
nomination  of  himself  or  support  that  of  any  other 
man. 

With  Mr.  Root's  decision  in  support  of  its  course, 
the  Steam  Roller  proceeded  merrily  on  its  way. 
With  the  aid  of  the  votes  of  the  74  contested  dele- 
gates, it  secured  the  appointment  of  a  committee  on 
credentials  which  could  be  depended  upon  to  ratify 
all  the  findings  of  the  National  Committee  on  con- 
tested seats,  which  it  proceeded  to  do,  reporting  in 
favor  of  seating  the  74  as  permanent  members. 
When  the  vote  on  acceptance  of  this  report  was  put 
before  the  convention  for  adoption,  the  temporary 
chairman  held  sternly  to  his  decision  that  no  one  of 
the  74  whose  seat  was  contested  could  vote  on  his 
own  case,  but  as  his  73  companions  in  dispute  could 
be  relied  on  to  vote  for  him,  the  deprivation  was 
easily  borne.  All  "regular/'  all  "in  accordance  with 
precedent"  in  conventions  since  they  were  first 
established!  The  operators  of  the  Steam  Roller 
themselves  had  created  the  precedent  in  accordance 
with  which  they  were  operating  it,  and  knowing 
their  business  thoroughly,  they  had  made  no  mis- 
takes. Again  it  may  be  said,  they  could  have  cited 
equally  good  precedent  for  an  opposite  course. 


AND  ELECTIONS  115 

With  the  74  contested  delegates  firmly  in  their 
seats,  the  remaining  work  of  the  convention  went  on 
with  only  slight  and  occasional  friction.  Nothing 
jarred  the  progress  of  the  Steam  Roller.  Occasion- 
ally a  delegate,  not  entirely  reconciled  to  its  crushing 
progress,  made  the  point  of  order  that  it  was  "  ex- 
ceeding the  speed  limit/ '  but  so  general  had  recogni- 
tion of  its  control  of  the  proceedings  become  that 
the  chairman  was  able  to  look  upon  such  protest  as 
an  uncommonly  good  joke,  and  join  in  the  general 
laugh. 

Only  once  was  the  beaten  path  of  "regularity" 
departed  from,  and  the  responsible  person  in  the 
case  was  Mr.  Root,  who  had  been  elected  permanent 
as  well  as  temporary  chairman.  During  the  roll-call 
for  the  nomination  of  candidates  for  the  presidency, 
the  vote  of  Massachusetts  was  being  polled.  An 
account  of  what  occurred  has  been  published  by 
Professor  Albert  Bushnell  Hart,  of  Harvard  Univer- 
sity, who  was  a  member  of  the  delegation,  and  from 
this  the  following  quotation  is  made: 

The  first  delegate-at-large  replied  to  his  name: 
"  Present  and  not  voting."  Whereupon  the  Honor- 
able Elihu  Root,  president  of  the  convention,  called 
the  Taft  alternate.  Forthwith  Frederick  Fosdick, 
chairman  of  "the  Roosevelt  Eighteen/'  stepped  out 
into  the  aisle,  raising  his  hand  to  command  attention, 
and  said:  "Massachusetts  is  a  law-abiding  State,  and 
will  not  stand  for  such  a  steal."  Thereupon,  the 
honored  president  of  the  convention  advanced  to 
the  edge  of  the  platform  and  said:  "If  the  delegates 


116      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

from  Massachusetts  will  not  do  their  duty,  we  will 
call  upon  those  who  will  do  it."  To  which  Mr.  Fos- 
dick  manfully  replied:  "No  convention  can  make  me 
vote  for  any  man."  A  second  Roosevelt  delegate 
answered,  "Present  and  not  voting,"  and  a  second 
alternate  was  called  who  voted  for  Taft.  This,  in 
brief,  is  the  reason  why  the  Massachusetts  delega- 
tion, which  was  divided  18  to  18,  shows  on  the 
record  20  votes  "Taft"  and  16  "present  and  not 
voting." 

If  this  transfer  of  two  votes  was  fair  play,  good 
parliamentary  law,  and  the  traditional  practise  of  a 
Republican  convention,  its  basis  can  be  found  in  the 
printed  records  of  the  successive  Republican  con- 
ventions since  1856.  They  have  been  examined  by 
the  writer  from  beginning  to  end  as  the  basis  of  this 
article.  There  is  not  one  single  rule,  vote,  or  decision 
in  any  one  of  the  fourteen  sets  of  proceedings  which 
is  a  precedent  for  the  decision  of  Mr.  Root.  On  the 
contrary,  the  ruling  was  contrary  to  every  precedent 
which  bears  on  the  case. 

Professor  Hart  goes  on  to  say: 

The  only  possible  excuse  for  Mr.  Root's  decision 
is  that  he  thought  he  was  applying  a  general  princi- 
ple of  parliamentary  law  which  had  been  overlooked 
by  his  predecessor.  That  excuse  absolutely  breaks 
down  before  the  fact  that  Mr.  Root  had  not  applied 
that  principle  in  four  previous  roll-calls,  did  not 
apply  it  throughout  the  Massachusetts  Roosevelt 
delegation,  and  did  not  apply  it  in  any  other  dele- 
gation which  was  in  like  condition  on  the  same  roll- 
call. 

The  facts  of  the  Massachusetts  case,  as  observed 


AND  ELECTIONS  117 

by  the  writer  at  the  time  from  within  the  Massachu- 
setts Roosevelt  delegation,  are  simply  as  follows: 
Throughout  the  convention  "the  Roosevelt  Eight- 
een" made  it  a  point  to  protest  against  the  Steam- 
Roller  process  at  every  stage;  and  in  the  first  three 
roll-calls  their  18  votes  were  announced  on  the 
Roosevelt  side.  On  the  fourth  roll-call,  on  the  ac- 
ceptance of  the  platform,  under  a  general  agreement, 
the  Roosevelt  delegates  all  undertook  to  answer, 
"Present  and  not  voting,"  or  words  to  that  effect. 
Two  of  the  delegates-at-large,  not  expecting  a  roll- 
call  at  that  time,  were  out  of  the  convention  hall; 
and  the  Taft  chairman,  observing  it,  called  for  the 
alternates,  as  he  had  a  perfect  right  to  do.  The 
alternates  were  Taft  men,  and  hence  the  vote  was 
recorded  20  on  the  Taft  side  and  16  "present  and 
not  voting."  There  were  nearly  350  votes  of  that 
nature,  and  in  not  one  single  case,  either  in  the 
Massachusetts  delegation  or  any  other,  whether  the 
vote  was  announced  by  the  delegation's  chairman 
or  obtained  by  polling  the  members,  was  an  alternate 
called  on  the  ground  that  his  principal  had  declined 
to  vote. 

Why  Mr.  Root  thought  it  so  necessary  to  get 
these  two  additional  votes  for  Taft  has  never  been 
revealed.  His  act,  as  Professor  Hart  shows,  had  no 
precedent  in  its  support,  and  as  such  mars  the  per- 
fect record  of  "regularity"  for  the  convention's  con- 
duct. The  fact  that  no  protest  was  made  to  it 
shows  that  the  convention  managers  insisted  on 
strict  regularity  and  obedience  to  precedent  only 
when  such  conduct  was  necessary  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  their  purpose.  They  thus  confessed 


118      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

that  it  was  in  their  power  to  violate  law  and  prece- 
dent whenever  they  chose  to  do  so,  or  whenever 
their  chairman  elected  to  lead  them  in  a  new  de- 
parture. The  two  votes  were  not  absolutely  neces- 
sary to  secure  Taft's  nomination,  for  when  the  roll- 
call  was  ended  the  record  stood:  Taft  561;  Roosevelt 
107;  La  Follette  41;  Cummins  17;  Hughes  2;  present 
and  not  voting  349.  Taft  thus  received  21  votes 
more  than  were  necessary  for  a  nomination,  and  the 
two  snatched,  as  it  were,  from  Massachusetts  by 
Mr.  Root  were  superfluous.  The  Roosevelt  dele- 
gates, under  Roosevelt's  personal  direction,  had 
withdrawn  from  active  participation  in  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  convention,  and  only  about  a  fourth  of 
them  joined  in  the  balloting.  The  Steam  Roller  had 
gone  over  them,  but  subsequent  events  were  to  show 
that  it  had  by  no  means  crushed  them.  One  of  the 
last  acts  of  the  convention  was  the  election  of  a  new 
National  Committee  to  serve  for  four  years,  thus 
placing  the  controlling  power  of  the  convention  of 
1916  in  the  hands  of  a  like  body  to  that  which  had 
dominated  the  convention  of  1912,  with  precedent 
lodged  more  firmly  than  ever  in  its  hands. 

The  convention  of  1916  will  have  93  fewer  voting 
delegates  than  the  convention  of  1912,  through  the 
action  of  the  National  Republican  Committee  in 
revising  the  representation  in  1915.  Of  the  93 
eliminated  78  are  from  the  South,  3  from  New  York, 
and  2  from  New  Mexico.  There  will  be  10  dele- 
gates from  Hawaii,  the  Philippines,  and  Porto  Rico, 


AND  ELECTIONS  119 

but  they  will  not  be  allowed  to  vote.  The  South 
will  still  have  200  delegates  and  the  Territories  4. 
The  total  number  of  delegates  will  be  985,  and  493 
will  constitute  a  majority  and  suffice  for  a  nomina- 
tion. The  Southern  delegates  will,  therefore,  con- 
stitute two-fifths  of  the  number  necessary  to  nom- 
inate. In  the  convention  of  1912  the  South  had 
278  delegates,  or  nearly  one-half  of  the  majority 
necessary  to  nominate,  which  was  590. 

Nearly  600  of  the  delegates  will  be  chosen  in  direct 
primaries,  and  the  balance,  about  385,  by  the  old 
method.  This  reverses  the  relative  strength  of  the 
two  kinds  of  delegates  in  the  convention  of  1912. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  PROGRESSIVE  CONVENTION 

WHEN  the  Steam  Roller  had  passed  over  the  Roose- 
velt delegates  in  the  final  case  of  contested  seats  to 
come  before  the  Republican  convention,  the  sup- 
porters of  Roosevelt,  acting  upon  his  personal  ad- 
vice, refrained  in  almost  solid  body  from  taking  fur- 
ther part  in  the  proceedings.  A  statement,  which 
had  been  drawn  up  and  signed  by  Colonel  Roosevelt, 
was  read  to  the  convention,  in  which  he  said  that  the 
action  of  the  convention,  in  seating  the  contested 
delegates  placed  upon  the  temporary  roll  by  the 
National  Committee,  made  the  convention  in  no 
proper  sense  any  longer  a  Republican  convention 
representing  the  Republican  party,  and  he  hoped, 
therefore,  that  the  men  elected  as  Roosevelt  dele- 
gates would  decline  to  vote  on  any  matter  before  the 
convention. 

Immediately  following  the  completion  of  the  roll- 
call,  which  resulted  in  the  nomination  of  Taft,  the 
Roosevelt  delegates  and  alternates  left  the  conven- 
tion and  accompanied  by  a  great  throng  of  people 
went  to  another  hall  in  the  city,  which  was  filled  to 
overflowing  as  soon  as  the  doors  were  opened.  A 

convention    was    organized    and    resolutions    were 

120 


PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS       121 

adopted  nominating  Roosevelt  as  the  candidate  of 
the  Progressive  party  for  the  presidency.  A  com- 
mittee of  notification,  representing  the  strongest 
Republican  States,  twenty-two  in  number,  was  ap- 
pointed to  apprise  him  of  the  nomination.  When  he 
appeared  in  the  hall  a  scene  of  the  wildest  enthusi- 
asm followed.  All  witnesses  of  this  scene  describe  it 
as  something  quite  without  precedent  in  convention 
history,  being  more  like  the  beginning  of  a  religious 
crusade  than  the  founding  of  a  political  party. 
Colonel  Roosevelt  made  a  brief  speech,  in  which  he 
said: 

I  think  the  time  has  come  when  not  only  men 
who  believe  in  Progressive  principles,  but  all  men 
who  believe  hi  those  elementary  maxims  of  public 
and  private  morality  which  must  underlie  every 
form  of  successful  free  government,  should  join  in 
our  movement.  I,  therefore,  ask  you  to  go  to  your 
several  homes  to  find  out  the  sentiment  of  the  people 
at  home  and  then  again  come  together,  I  suggest  by 
mass  convention,  to  nominate  for  the  presidency  a 
Progressive  on  a  Progressive  platform  that  will  en- 
able us  to  appeal  to  Northerner  and  Southerner, 
Easterner  and  Westerner,  Republican  and  Democrat 
alike,  in  the  name  of  our  common  American  citizen- 
ship. If  you  wish  me  to  make  the  fight,  I  will  make 
it,  even  if  only  one  State  should  support  me. 

I  am  in  this  fight  for  certain  principles,  and  the 
first  and  most  important  of  these  goes  back  to  Sinai, 
and  is  embodied  in  the  commandment,  "Thou  shalt 
not  steal."  Thou  shalt  not  steal  a  nomination. 
Thou  shalt  neither  steal  in  politics  nor  in  business. 


122      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

Thou  shalt  not  steal  from  the  people  the  birthright 
of  the  people  to  rule  themselves. 

A  call  for  a  National  Progressive  Convention,  to 
meet  at  Chicago  on  August  5,  in  the  same  building 
as  that  in  which  the  Republican  convention  had 
held  its  sessions,  was  issued  on  July  7.  There  were 
sixty-three  signers  to  the  call,  representing  forty 
States,  mostly  Northern,  and  no  Territories. 

When  the  convention  assembled  at  Chicago  there 
were  delegates  from  every  State  except  South  Caro- 
lina. Many  States  sent  three  and  four  times  the 
regular  number  of  delegates,  so  that  there  were  in 
attendance  fully  two  thousand  in  all.  There  were 
negro  delegates  from  several  States,  including  West 
Virginia,  Pennsylvania,  New  York,  and  Rhode  Island 
— whose  character  and  standing  in  the  communities 
from  which  they  came  were  equal  in  every  respect  to 
those  of  the  white  delegates. 

The  convention  was  as  extraordinary  in  character 
as  that  which  had  been  assembled  so  hastily  in 
Chicago  in  June.  Its  members,  like  those  of  the 
June  gathering,  sang  hymns  and  patriotic  songs,  like 
"The  Battle  Hymn  of  the  Republic,"  the  "Star- 
Spangled  Banner,"  "Onward,  Christian  Soldiers." 
When  Roosevelt  made  his  first  appearance  on  the 
platform  he  was  cheered  continuously  for  nearly  an 
hour.  On  the  evening  of  the  second  day  Theodore 
Roosevelt  was  nominated  for  President,  and  Hiram 
W.  Johnson,  of  California,  for  Vice-President.  The 
convention  adjourned  after  singing  the  "Doxology." 


From  a  photograph  copyright  by  Moffett  Studio. 

The  National  Progressive  convention,  Chicago,  August  6,  1912. 


AND  ELECTIONS  123 

Under  such  really  extraordinary  conditions  was 
launched  a  new  political  party  which  was  destined 
to  break  all  records  of  new  or  so-called  third  parties, 
by  achieving  a  popular  success  that  was  nothing 
short  of  marvellous.  When  the  result  of  the  election 
was  recorded  it  was  seen  that,  while  the  Democratic 
candidate  for  the  presidency,  Woodrow  Wilson,  had 
been  elected,  Colonel  Roosevelt  was  second  in  the 
poll,  having  secured  the  electoral  vote  of  six  States, 
88  votes  in  all,  while  Mr.  Taft  had  carried  only  two 
States,  Vermont  and  Utah,  with  a  total  of  8  electoral 
votes.  Colonel  Roosevelt's  popular  vote  was  4,119,- 
507,  and  Mr.  Taft's  3,484,956.  California,  from 
whose  delegation  to  the  Chicago  convention  the 
National  Republican  Committee,  in  face  of  the  fact 
that  Roosevelt  had  carried  the  preferential  primaries 
by  a  majority  of  77,000,  had  seated  two  Taft  dele- 
gates, who  were  admitted  to  have  very  doubtful 
claims  to  recognition,  gave  Roosevelt  its  electoral 
vote,  casting  283,610  votes  for  him  and  3,914  for 
Taft.  Pennsylvania,  where  Roosevelt  delegates  had 
been  elected  by  about  130,000  majority  in  the  pref- 
erential primaries,  gave  its  electoral  vote  to  Roose- 
velt, as  did  also  Michigan  and  Minnesota.  Ohio, 
Taft's  home  State,  where  six  Taft  delegates  at  large 
had  been  chosen  by  the  Republican  State  conven- 
tion, although  the  preferential  primaries  had  been 
carried  for  Roosevelt  delegates  by  about  47,000  ma- 
jority, gave  its  electoral  vote  to  Wilson.  Illinois, 
where  the  Roosevelt  majority  in  the  primaries  had 


124      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

been  150,000,  gave  Roosevelt  130,000  more  votes 
than  it  gave  Taft,  and  its  electoral  vote  to  Wilson. 
Whatever  else  might  be  said  of  these  results,  they 
could  not  be  construed  as  a  favorable  popular  ver- 
dict on  the  Steam-Roller  method  of  nominating  a 
candidate  for  the  presidency. 


CHAPTER  XV 
MACHINERY  OF  PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTIONS 

UNDER  the  Constitution  as  adopted  in  1789,  both 
President  and  Vice-President  were  chosen  by  electors 
appointed  by  the  States,  each  State  fixing  the  method 
of  appointment,  and  each  having  a  number  of  elec- 
tors equal  to  its  representation  in  both  houses  of 
Congress.  Each  elector  voted  for  two  candidates; 
the  one  receiving  the  highest  vote  was  to  be  Presi- 
dent, provided  he  had  a  majority  of  the  whole  num- 
ber of  electors,  and  the  one  receiving  the  next  highest 
number,  Vice-President.  In  case  more  than  one 
candidate  had  a  majority,  and  the  number  of  votes 
was  equal,  then  the  choice  of  President  was  to  be 
made  by  the  House  of  Representatives,  who  must 
choose  one  of  those  having  a  majority,  or,  in  case  no 
one  had  a  majority,  from  the  five  highest  on  the  list 
of  candidates.  Each  State  in  such  election  had  one 
vote,  two-thirds  of  all  the  States  constituting  a 
quorum,  and  a  majority  of  all  being  necessary  for 
election.  In  every  case,  after  the  choice  of  Presi- 
dent, the  candidate  having  the  largest  number  of 
electoral  votes  was  to  be  Vice-President,  but  if  two 
or  more  remained  who  had  equal  votes,  the  Senate 
was  to  choose  from  them  the  Vice-President. 

125 


126      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

This  plan  worked  very  well  during  the  first  and 
second  elections,  when  Washington  was  the  universal 
choice  and  the  electors  merely  recorded  the  popular 
will,  and  fairly  well  in  the  third. 

Rhode  Island,  with  three  electoral  votes  and 
North  Carolina  with  seven,  had  not  adopted  the 
Constitution,  and  could  not  take  part  in  the  first 
election;  two  electors  of  Maryland  and  two  of  Vir- 
ginia were  unable  to  attend,  three  because  of  ice  in 
the  rivers  and  bays  and  one  because  of  gout.  Wash- 
ington's term  was  held  to  expire  at  the  end  of  March 
3,  1793,  though  he  was  not  inaugurated  President 
till  April  30,  1789,  because  March  4,  1789,  had  been 
fixed  by  the  Constitution  for  the  assembling  of  Con- 
gress, and  the  whole  government  was  assumed  to 
come  into  being  on  that  day. 

In  the  second  election  there  appeared  for  the  first 
time  in  national  politics  an  anti-Federalist  party, 
under  the  name  of  Republican,  which  later  became 
the  Democratic  party.  Its  chief  candidates  were 
George  Clinton  and  Thomas  Jefferson,  the  latter 
being  the  organizer  and  leader  of  the  party. 

The  election  machinery  provided  by  the  Consti- 
tution had  already  begun  to  creak  in  the  third  elec- 
tion. Mr.  Adams  had  only  one  vote  more  than  the 
necessary  majority,  and  there  was  a  question  of  the 
validity  of  the  four  votes  of  Vermont  which  were 
counted  for  him.  One  elector  in  Pennsylvania,  who 
had  been  chosen  by  popular  vote  as  an  Adams  man, 
cast  his  vote  for  Jefferson.  He  has  the  distinction  of 


AND  ELECTIONS  127 

being  the  only  elector  in  our  history  who  has  thus 
betrayed  the  trust  placed  in  him. 

In  the  fourth  election  Thomas  Jefferson  and  Aaron 
Burr  each  received  73  votes,  John  Adams  had  65, 
and  C.  C.  Pinckney  64.  There  was,  consequently, 
no  choice,  and  the  election  went  to  the  House  of 
Representatives,  as  provided  in  the  Constitution. 
After  a  contest  lasting  for  six  days,  in  which  thirty- 
six  ballots  were  taken,  Jefferson  was  elected  Presi- 
dent on  February  17,  by  the  vote  of  ten  States 
against  that  of  four  States  for  Burr,  who  was  elected 
Vice-President. 

The  tie  vote  of  1800  demonstrated  so  clearly  the 
need  of  a  change  in  the  method  of  voting  provided  in 
the  Constitution,  that  in  December,  1803,  Congress 
passed  and  thirteen  of  the  sixteen  existing  States 
subsequently  ratified  an  amendment  which  provided 
that  electors  should  vote  separately  for  President  and 
Vice-President.  The  new  method  went  into  effect 
for  the  first  time  in  the  election  of  1804. 

The  election  of  1820  occurred  in  what  was  known 
as  "the  era  of  good  feeling."  There  was  no  organ- 
ized opposition  to  Monroe's  re-election.  He  lacked 
only  one  vote  of  being  re-elected  unanimously,  thus 
sharing  that  honor  with  Washington. 

There  was  no  election  for  President  in  1824,  since 
no  candidate  had  a  majority  of  all  the  electoral 
votes.  Andrew  Jackson  had  99  and  John  Adams  84. 
On  February  9,  1825,  the  House  of  Representatives 
elected  Mr.  Adams  President  on  the  first  ballot,  the 


128      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

vote  standing  87  for  him,  71  for  Jackson,  and  54 
for  Crawford.  The  votes  of  thirteen  States  went  to 
Adams,  of  seven  to  Jackson,  and  of  four  to  Crawford. 

Mr.  Adams  was  declared  elected  President  by  the 
speaker.  On  the  same  day  both  houses  of  Congress 
in  joint  session  declared  Mr.  Calhoun  elected  Vice- 
President. 

In  the  election  of  1824  the  electors  were  chosen  by 
popular  vote  in  eighteen  States;  in  six  States  they 
were  appointed  by  the  legislatures.  For  the  first 
time  an  attempt  was  made  to  assemble  the  popular 
vote,  and  while  the  result  was  not  accurate,  the  fig- 
ures are  interesting  as  being  the  first  of  their  kind 
ever  collected.  They  gave  the  following  totals  for 
the  four  candidates  for  President:  Jackson,  152,899; 
Adams,  105,321;  Crawford,  47,265;  Clay,  47,087. 
Mr.  Adams  was,  in  a  twofold  sense,  a  minority 
President,  being  in  a  minority  in  both  the  electoral 
college  and  in  the  popular  vote.  He  was  also  be- 
hind Jackson  in  both  instances.  His  election  under 
these  conditions  sounded  the  death-knell  of  the  cau- 
cus system  of  nominating  electors,  and  led  to  the 
establishment  of  the  national  convention  system,  and 
to  the  choice  of  electors  by  popular  vote,  nearly  all 
the  States  adopting  that  method  before  the  election 
of  1828. 

Previous  to  1828  the  real  election  had  taken  place 
in  February  preceding  the  inauguration  of  President 
in  March,  when  the  votes  were  canvassed  in  joint 
session,  the  exact  result  of  the  choice  of  electors  in 


AND  ELECTIONS  129 

the  various  States  not  being  known  until  that  time. 
In  the  election  of  1828,  therefore,  the  people  for  the 
first  time  were  able  to  give  expression  to  their  choice, 
and  the  record  of  popular  votes  in  presidential  elec- 
tions begins  at  that  date. 

For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  country  all 
candidates  for  the  presidency  and  vice-presidency  in 
the  election  of  1836  were  nominated  in  national  con- 
ventions. There  were  three  such  conventions — 
Anti-Masonic,  Democratic,  and  National  Republi- 
can. The  "two-thirds  rule/'  since  prevailing  in 
Democratic  conventions,  was  originated  in  the  first 
convention  of  that  party,  in  Baltimore,  May  22, 1832. 

The  Whig  party,  made  up  mainly  of  members  of 
the  National  Republican  party,  made  its  first  appear- 
ance in  national  politics  at  this  election. 

The  election  of  1876  was  disputed.  The  Demo- 
crats claimed,  on  the  morning  after  election,  that 
they  had  carried  every  Southern  State,  as  well  as 
New  York,  Indiana,  New  Jersey,  and  Connecticut, 
giving  their  candidates,  Tilden  and  Hendricks,  203 
electoral  votes.  On  the  same  day  the  Republican 
National  Committee  claimed  for  their  party  in  ad- 
dition to  other  States,  South  Carolina,  Florida,  and 
Louisiana,  and  that  their  candidates,  Hayes  and 
Wheeler,  had  185  electoral  votes,  one  more  than  a 
majority.  Subsequently  the  electoral  vote  of  Ore- 
gon was  disputed.  Final  decision  was  made  by  an 
electoral  commission  created  by  Act  of  Congress, 
and  composed  of  five  members  of  each  house  and 


130      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

five  justices  of  the  Supreme  Court,  to  which  all  dis- 
puted returns  were  referred.  This  body  was  com- 
posed of  eight  Republicans  and  seven  Democrats,  and 
in  each  contest  that  came  before  it  the  decision 
rendered  was  by  a  vote  of  8  to  7  in  favor  of  the  Re- 
publican case,  thus  securing  a  final  verdict  declaring 
the  election  of  the  Republican  candidates  for  Presi- 
dent and  Vice-President  by  one  vote  in  the  Electoral 
College. 

An  important  change  was  made  by  Congress  in 
1886  in  regard  to  the  presidential  succession.  In 
1791  a  law  had  been  enacted  which  made  the  presi- 
dent pro  tern,  of  the  Senate  successor  to  the  office  of 
President  in  the  event  of  the  removal,  death,  resig- 
nation, or  disability  of  both  the  President  and  Vice- 
President,  and  in  case  there  should  be  no  president 
of  the  Senate,  then  the  speaker  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  should  act  as  President.  On  Janu- 
ary 18,  1886,  an  act  was  approved  which  provided 
that  the  succession  should  devolve  first  upon  the 
secretary  of  state  and  then  in  order  upon  the  secre- 
tary of  the  treasury,  the  secretary  of  war,  the  attor- 
ney-general, the  postmaster-general,  secretary  of  the 
navy,  and  secretary  of  the  interior. 

In  February,  1887,  a  law  was  enacted  which  pro- 
vided a  new  method  of  counting  the  electoral  vote, 
a  subject  which  had  been  under  discussion  since  the 
disputed  election  of  1876,  when  the  Hayes-Tilden 
contest  was  decided  by  an  electoral  commission. 
Under  the  "twenty-second  joint  rule"  either  house 


AND  ELECTIONS  131 

of  Congress  could  reject  from  the  count  electoral 
votes,  for  no  vote  that  was  objected  to  could  be 
counted  except  by  the  concurrent  votes  of  the  two 
houses.  The  refusal  of  the  Senate  in  1877  to  abide 
by  the  joint  rule,  which  had  governed  the  electoral 
count  since  1865,  led  to  the  creation  of  the  electoral 
commission.  The  act  of  1887  provided  that  a  State 
may  determine  finally  every  contest  arising  out  of  a 
presidential  election,  and  in  case  of  a  conflict  of 
State  tribunals,  no  vote  can  be  rejected  by  Congress 
save  on  concurrent  votes  by  both  houses. 

A  complete  record  of  the  electoral  and  popular 
votes  in  all  presidential  elections,  the  first  ten  by 
electors  chosen  under  the  caucus  system,  and  the 
remainder  by  electors  chosen  by  popular  vote,  will 
be  found  in  the  final  chapter  of  this  volume. 


CHAPTER  XVI 
CAMPAIGN  METHODS  AND  CARICATURE 

THE  modern  presidential  campaign,  with  its  organ- 
ized uproar,  great  parades,  innumerable  mass-meet- 
ings, often  vigorous  exchange  of  vituperation  and 
personal  abuse,  and  the  use  of  caricature  as  a 
weapon  of  attack,  dates  from  the  appearance  of 
General  Jackson  in  national  politics.  The  advent 
of  so  distinct  and  so  robust  a  personality  seems  to 
have  stimulated  a  resort  to  new  methods  of  various 
kinds,  both  for  advocating  his  fortunes  and  for 
opposing  him.  The  use  of  caricature  in  our  politics 
dates  from  his  campaign  for  re-election  in  1832,  as 
I  shall  endeavor  to  show  presently.  Campaigning 
in  our  modern  sense,  previous  to  his  time,  was  un- 
known. The  presidential  candidates  were  put  for- 
ward and  their  election  was  advocated  by  their 
friends  and  by  the  press,  but  almost  invariably  with 
decorum  and  seldom  with  manifestations  of  popu- 
lar excitement.  But  General  Jackson  "changed  all 
that"  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye.  He  opened  his 
first  campaign  in  January,  1828,  with  a  grand  flourish, 
the  like  of  which  had  never  been  dreamed  of  in  pre- 
vious contests.  A  celebration  of  the  anniversary  of 
the  battle  of  New  Orleans,  January  8,  1815,  was  ar- 
ranged in  that  city,  and  the  battle's  hero  was  invited 

132 


PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS       133 

as  the  guest  of  the  State.  Delegations  were  invited 
from  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  they  were  present 
in  large  numbers.  A  steamer  was  sent  from  New 
Orleans,  with  a  reception  committee,  to  meet  the 
general  at  Natchez  and  escort  him  to  the  scene. 

There  was  a  procession,  banquet,  and  ball  at 
Natchez  when  the  general  appeared  there  on  another 
steamer  which  had  brought  him  from  his  home. 
The  two  steamers  then  started  together  for  New 
Orleans.  As  they  approached  the  city,  the  steamer 
Pocahontas,  upon  which  the  general  was  borne,  dis- 
played, says  a  contemporary  chronicler,  "twenty- 
four  flags  waving  from  her  lofty  decks."  A  fleet  of 
steamers  had  gone  forth  to  meet  him,  with  "two 
stupendous  boats,  lashed  together,  leading  the  van." 
"The  whole  fleet  kept  up  a  constant  fire  of  artillery, 
which  was  answered  from  several  ships  in  the  har- 
bor and  from  the  shore.  General  Jackson  stood  on 
the  back  gallery  of  the  Pocahontas,  his  head  uncov-  ( 
ered,  conspicuous  to  the  whole  multitude,  which 
literally  covered  the  steamboats,  the  shipping,  and 
the  surrounding  shores."  ^ 

Jackson  landed  on  the  levee  amid  a  great  throng 
of  people,  conspicuous  among  whom  were  many  of 
his  brother  soldiers.  Four  days  of  high  festival  fol- 
lowed, with  enthusiastic  speeches  of  congratulation 
from  the  visiting  delegations  und  stirring  responses 
from  the  general,  the  echoes  of  which  floated  over 
the  land  and  stirred  it  to  unwonted  excitement. 
The  campaign  which  followed  is  said  to  have  been 


134      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

the  most  scurrilous  in  our  history.  Campaign  pa- 
pers made  their  first  appearance,  and  were  devoted 
entirely  to  personal  abuse  of  the  two  opposing  can- 
didates— Jackson  and  Adams.  One  of  these  which 
supported  Jackson  was  called  We  the  People,  and 
the  other,  which  supported  Adams,  was  named  the 
Anti-Jackson  Expositor. 

Nothing  in  the  public  or  private  life  of  either  es- 
caped exposure  and  distortion.  Jackson  was  de- 
nounced as  a  bloodthirsty  butcher,  a  fighter  of  duels, 
a  murderer  of  Indians,  Englishmen,  and  everybody 
else  who  got  in  his  path.  Hand-bills  were  put 
forth  headed  with  a  coffin-lid  bearing  an  inscription 
of  each  victim's  death.  Peculiar  circumstances  of 
his  marriage,  long  forgotten,  were  recalled  and  set 
forth  with  gross  exaggeration,  and  so  large  be- 
came the  volume  of  slander  and  accusation  that 
a  special  committee  was  appointed  to  consider  the 
various  charges  and  disprove  them,  which  task  it 
executed  at  great  length.  Adams  was  accused  of 
"bargain  and  corruption,"  because  of  his  alliance 
with  Clay,  of  Federalism,  Freemasonry,  and  Uni- 
tarianism,  of  haughtiness,  stinginess,  selfishness,  and 
extravagant  expenditure.  One  charge  which  caused 
great  commotion  was  that  he  had  used  the  public 
money  to  buy  a  billiard-table  which  he  had  dared 
to  set  up  in  the  White  House.  This  was  accom- 
panied with  another  charge  that  he  had  refurnished 
with  appalling  extravagance  the  East  Room  of  the 
White  House,  in  which  his  excellent  mother  had 


FANCIED   SECURITY.OR  THE  RATS  ON  A  BENDER. 


JACKSON  CLEARING  THE  KITCHEN. 


AND  ELECTIONS  135 

been  in  the  habit  of  hanging  the  family  washing  to 
dry. 

These  charges  are  not  without  contemporaneous 
human  interest,  for  they  find  echo  occasionally  in 
the  debates  of  Congress  even  in  our  day.  So  also  do 
other  charges  made  by  the  excited  partisans  on 
either  side  in  1828.  The  Jacksonian  organs  declared 
that  if  Adams  were  re-elected,  "the  next  Congress 
will  be  the  last  that  will  ever  sit  in  the  United 
States/'  and  claimed  that  "if  General  Jackson  be 
not  elected,  the  Union  will  be  dissolved."  A  sug- 
gestion of  later  campaign  methods  was  afforded  inj 
the  use  made  of  Jackson's  pet  name,  "Old  Hickory." 
His  supporters  organized  clubs  of  young  men,  who, 
paraded  with  transparencies  and  planted  hickory 
poles,  dancing  around  them  and  shouting,  "Jackson 
forever."  The  Adams  followers  would  attack  these 
performers  and  seek  to  tear  up  the  poles  and  bear 
them  away  in  triumph,  with  the  result  of  frequent 
fights  and  riots. 

With  General  Jackson's  campaign  for  re-election 
the  modern  presidential  contest  may  be  said  to  have^ 
been  fairly  introduced.  He  had  then  made  a  recorfy 
in  office  that  could  be  attacked  and  had  conducted 
all  his  chief  acts  as  President  with  such  an  amount 
of  disturbance  that  the  people  were  more  interested 
in  him  as  a  personality  than  they  were  in  any  one 
else  in  the  nation.  He  had  entered  the  presidency 
as  the  saviour  of  his  country,  a  military  hero  of  in- 
domitable valor.  His  subsequent  fight  against  the 


136      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

United  States  Bank,  his  vociferous  and  uncere- 
monious methods  of  conducting  controversies  with 
political  opponents,  the  subservient  conduct  of  his 
famous  "kitchen  cabinet/ '  and  its  dissolution  when 
Van  Buren  withdrew  from  it,  had  combined  during 
his  first  term  to  enhance  greatly  his  attractiveness  as 
a  popular  idol.  He  appeared  before  the  people  as 
their  only  champion  against  the  oppressive  designs 
of  a  huge  money  monopoly  in  which  the  whole  world 
was  joined.  He  was  the  "People's  Friend"  in  all 
crises;  the  giant  who,  single-handed,  was  fighting 
their  battles  against  enemies  from  all  quarters. 
Every  conspicuous  act  of  his  public  life  was  per- 
formed amid  uproar  and  turmoil.  Even  when  his 
"kitchen  cabinet"  was  dissolved,  there  was  so  much 
dramatic  disturbance  that  one  of  the  political  cari- 
catures of  the  time  pictures  him,  armed  with  a 
churn-dasher,  clearing  the  kitchen  of  all  opponents 
as  with  the  very  besom  of  destruction. 

In  waging  their  war  against  so  picturesque  a  per- 
sonage as  General  Jackson  the  opposition  felt  the 
need  of  a  new  and  more  graphic  weapon  than  any 
:  previously  used,  and  they  turned  to  caricature.  The 
talent  which  they  called  to  their  aid  was  crude  in 
ideas  and  still  more  crude  in  execution,  but  a  great 
mass  of  caricature,  in  the  form  of  large  sheets  to  be 
displayed  in  shop-windows  and  posted  on  walls  and 
fences,  was  put  forth.  "The  favorite  idea  of  the 
caricaturists/'  says  one  of  Jackson's  biographers, 
"was  to  depict  Mr.  Van  Buren  as  an  infant  in  the 


AND  ELECTIONS  137 

arms  of  General  Jackson,  receiving  sustenance  from 
a  spoon  in  the  hand  of  the  general."  Another,  which 
was  very  popular,  represented  Jackson  receiving  a 
crown  from  Van  Buren  and  a  sceptre  from  Satan. 
Another  showed  the  President  raving  with  obvious 
fury  at  a  delegation.  Another  represented  Jackson 
and  a  group  of  his  warmest  official  supporters, 
dressed  as  burglars,  aiming  a  huge  battering-ram  at 
the  United  States  Bank's  barred  front  door. 

The  Jackson  campaigners  did  not  endeavor  to 
meet  caricature  with  caricature,  but  went  their  way 
"stirring  the  popular  heart."  They  did  an  enor- 
mous business  in  transparencies  and  hickory  poles. 
A  Frenchman  who  was  travelling  in  the  country  at 
the  time  saw  so  many  Jackson  processions  that  he 
thought  they  were  one  of  the  institutions  of  the 
country,  and  wrote  to  his  friends  at  home  this 
graphic  and  valuable  contemporary  record  of  their 
appearance  and  character: 

Besides  the  camp-meetings,  the  political  proces- 
sions are  the  only  things  in  this  country  which  bear 
any  resemblance  to  festivals.  The  party  dinners, 
with  their  speeches  and  deluge  of  toasts,  are  frigid, 
if  not  repulsive;  and  I  have  never  seen  a  more  mis- 
erable affair  than  the  dinner  given  by  the  opposition; 
that  is  to  say,  by  the  middle  class,  at  Powelton,  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Philadelphia.  But  I  stopped 
involuntarily  at  the  sight  of  the  gigantic  hickory 
poles  which  made  their  solemn  entry  on  eight  wheels, 
for  the  purpose  of  being  planted  by  the  Democracy 
on  the  eve  of  the  election.  I  remember  one  of  these 


138      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

poles,  with  its  top  still  crowned  with  green  foliage, 
which  came  on  to  the  sounds  of  fifes  and  drums, 
and  was  preceded  by  ranks  of  Democrats,  bearing 
no  other  badge  than  a  twig  of  the  sacred  tree  in 
their  hats.  It  was  drawn  by  eight  horses,  decorated 
with  ribbons  and  mottoes.  Astride  on  the  tree  itself 
were  a  dozen  Jackson  men  of  the  first  water,  waving 
flags  with  an  air  of  anticipated  triumph,  and  shouting 
"Hurrah  for  Jackson !" 

But  this  entry  of  the  hickory  was  but  a  by- 
matter  compared  with  the  procession  I  witnessed  in 
New  York.  It  was  nearly  a  mile  long.  The  Dem- 
ocrats marched  in  good  order,  to  the  glare  of 
torches;  the  banners  were  more  numerous  than  I  had 
ever  seen  them  in  any  religious  festival;  all  were  in 
transparency,  on  account  of  the  darkness.  On  some 
were  inscribed  the  names  of  the  Democratic  societies 
or  sections:  Democratic  young  men  of  the  ninth  or 
eleventh  wards;  others  bore  imprecations  against  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States;  Nick  Biddle  and  Old 
Nick  here  figured  largely. 

Then  came  portraits  of  General  Jackson  afoot 
and  on  horseback;  there  was  one  in  the  uniform  of 
a  general,  and  another  in  the  person  of  the  Tennessee 
farmer,  with  the  famous  hickory  cane  in  his  hand. 
Those  of  Washington  and  Jefferson,  surrounded  with 
Democratic  mottoes,  were  mingled  with  emblems  in 
all  tastes  and  of  all  colors.  Among  these  figured  an 
eagle,  not  a  painting,  but  a  real,  live  eagle,  tied  by 
the  legs,  surrounded  by  a  wreath  of  leaves,  and 
hoisted  upon  a  pole,  after  the  manner  of  the  Roman 
standards.  The  imperial  bird  was  carried  by  a 
stout  sailor,  more  pleased  than  ever  was  a  sergeant 
permitted  to  hold  one  of  the  strings  of  the  canopy 
in  a  Catholic  ceremony.  From  farther  than  the  eye 


AND  ELECTIONS  139 

could  reach  came  marching  on  the  Democrats.  I 
was  struck  with  the  resemblance  of  their  air  to  the 
train  that  escorts  the  viaticum  in  Mexico  and  Puebla. 
The  American  standard-bearers  were  as  grave  as  the 
Mexican  Indians  who  bore  the  sacred  tapers.  The 
Democratic  procession,  also,  like  the  Catholic  pro- 
cession, had  its  halting-places;  it  stopped  before  the 
houses  of  the  Jackson  men  to  fill  the  air  with  cheers, 
and  halted  at  the  doors  of  the  leaders  of  the  opposi- 
tion to  give  three,  six,  or  nine  groans. 

It  has  been  said  of  the  campaign  of  1840,  with 
"Tippecanoe  and  Tyler  too,"  that  it  was  the  first 
in  which  the  masses  of  the  people  took  intense  in- 
terest. In  a  sense  this  is  true,  but  at  the  same  time,  \ 
the  campaign  of  1840  was  the  natural  development 
of  the  methods  first  put  in  use  under  Jackson's  lead- 
ership. General  Harrison  had  some  of  the  drawing 
qualities  as  a  candidate  that  Jackson  had  possessed. 
He  was  a  military  hero  as  Jackson  was,  and  he  com- 
bined with  that  attractive  quality  a  simplicity  of 
life  and  character  which  greatly  endeared  him  to 
the  people. 

In  attempting  to  belittle  him  in  the  public  estima- 
tion, the  Democrats  unwittingly  supplied  the  ma- 
terial  for  making  his  campaign  at  once  the  noisiest 
and  the  best-natured  that  the  country  has  ever 
known.  They  declared  that  the  general  lived  in  a  log 
cabin  and  drank  hard  cider.  Harrison's  supporters 
at  once  took  this  up  as  their  campaign  battle-cry. 
From  the  moment  they  did  this  and  put  it  into 
effect,  all  talk  of  principles  and  issues  departed  from 


140      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

the  contest.  The  whole  population  gave  itself  up 
to  parades,  mass-meetings,  and  song  singing.  Huge 
Harrison  processions,  with  log  cabins,  cider-barrels 
and  coonskin  caps  on  poles,  fairly  covered  the  land. 
In  some  instances  they  stretched  from  one  State 
into  another,  all  marching  jubilantly  with  their  gro- 
tesque emblems  and  singing  unceasingly: 

What  has  caused  this  great  commotion- 

7notion-motion-7notiont 
Our  country  through  f 
It  is  the  ball  a-rolling  on 
For  Tippecanoe  and  Tyler  too. 
And  with  them  we  will  beat  little  Van. 
j  Van,  is  a  used-up  man. 


The  crowds  that  gathered  were  simply  stupendous 
—  would  be  regarded  as  phenomenal  even  in  our  day. 
There  was  a  Whig  carnival  at  Bunker  Hill  at  which 
75,000  were  said  to  be  present,  and  one  at  Dayton, 
Ohio,  at  which  General  Harrison  appeared,  which 
was  said  to  comprise  at  least  100,000.  Thurlow 
Weed  says  the  most  memorable  gathering  of  the 
campaign  was  held  at  Syracuse,  to  which  people 
came  by  hundreds  and  thousands,  on  foot,  in  car- 
riages, on  canal-boats  from  all  points  along  the 
canal,  many  of  them  with  bands  of  music,  and  all 
with  glee  clubs,  playing  and  singing  "Tippecanoe 
and  Tyler  too,"  and  other  similar  refrains.  "They 
began  to  arrive  at  sunrise  and  continued  arriving  till 
2  P.  M.  It  was  altogether  the  most  exciting  scene 


10CO  TOGO    CANDIDATES    TRAVELLING, 

OS  THE  CANAL  SYSTEM. 


"A  BOSTON  NOTION  OF  THE  WORLD'S  FAIR- A  NEW  CRADLE  OF  LIBERTY." 


AND  ELECTIONS  141 

I  ever  witnessed."  Of  the  campaign  in  general,  Mr. 
Weed  says:  "Log  cabins,  emblematic  of  the  candi- 
date's rustic  origin  and  habits,  were  erected  in  the 
principal  cities  and  villages,  in  all  of  which  enthusi- 
astic meetings  were  held." 


CHAPTER  XVII 

GENESIS  OF  AMERICAN  POLITICAL  CARICATURE 

FEW  of  the  Jackson  caricatures  are  to  be  found  now. 
They  were  used  at  frequent  intervals,  mainly  in 
New  York  City,  in  lithograph  sheets,  to  be  nailed 
upon  walls  or  passed  from  hand  to  hand.  They 
were  crude  in  drawing,  and  sometimes  coarse  to 
the  point  of  indecency.  They  bore  evidence  that 
their  designers  had  gone  abroad  for  inspiration,  tak- 
ing their  ideas  mainly  from  English  caricaturists. 
In  fact,  our  modern  school  of  caricature  dates  from 
almost  the  same  time  as  that  of  England,  and  both 
followed  closely  after  that  of  Italy,  France,  and  Ger- 
many. In  all  these  countries  the  first  political  cari- 
catures were  lithograph  sheets,  passed  about  from 
hand  to  hand;  usually  issued  by  the  artists  them- 
selves at  first,  and  subsequently  by  some  publishing 
house. 

The  founder  of  the  modern  school  in  England 
was  James  Gillray,  who  was  born  in  1757,  a  few 
years  before  the  death  of  Hogarth.  His  earlier 
work,  which  was  mainly  social,  partook  largely  of 
the  characteristics  of  the  caricaturists  who  had  pre- 
ceded him.  It  was  generally  coarse,  and  it  nearly 
always  made  its  effect  by  use  of  exaggeration.  In 
his  later  years,  however,  between  1803  and  1811, 

142 


PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS       143 

he  turned  his  attention  to  political  caricature,  be- 
ginning with  Napoleon  as  a  subject,  and  adopted 
methods  from  which  the  modern  school  has  been 
developed.  It  would  be  more  accurate  to  say  that 
Gillray  pointed  the  way  to  the  founding  of  the 
modern  school  of  political  caricature,  rather  than 
that  he  was  its  founder.  He  never  separated  him- 
self entirely  from  the  tradition,  as  old  almost  as  the 
art  of  drawing,  that  coarseness  and  exaggeration 
were  the  essential  elements  of  humor  as  exhibited  in 
caricature. 

The  first  English  artist  to  make  that  separation 
completely  was  John  Doyle,  father  of  Richard 
Doyle.  He  began  to  publish  political  caricatures 
in  1830,  under  the  signature  of  "H.  B.,"  and  was 
the  first  caricaturist  to  preserve  faithfully  in  all 
cases  the  likenesses  of  his  subjects,  and  to  give  to 
them  their  individual  attitudes  and  tricks  of  man- 
ner. He  was  the  real  founder  of  the  Punch  cartoon 
as  it  was  developed  by  Richard  Doyle,  John  Leech, 
and  John  Tenniel.  He  preferred  to  draw  single 
figures,  though  he  sometimes  produced  groups  with 
several  figures,  calling  his  productions  "Political 
Sketches." 

It  is  a  curious  and  interesting  fact  that  the  United 
States  supplied  the  inspiration  for  one  of  Doyle's 
most  successful  pictures,  and  incidentally,  perhaps, 
helped  to  lay  the  foundation  for  the  double-page 
group  cartoon  with  which  we  were  so  familiar  later. 
In  1836,  Thomas  D.  Rice,  the  father  of  negro  min- 


144      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

strelsy  in  America,  went  to  London  to  introduce 
his  invention.  His  "Jim  Crow"  song  proved  a  great 
popular  hit,  and  all  London  went  to  hear  it  and  then 
went  about  singing  it.  Doyle,  with  the  quick  eye 
which  is  the  sine  qua  non  of  the  true  political  cari- 
caturist, drew  and  issued  a  large  cartoon  in  which 
all  the  leading  politicians  of  the  day  who  had  been 
changing  their  party  affiliations  or  modifying  their 
views  were  represented  as  assembled  at  a  ball,  and 
as  being  led  forward,  one  by  one,  by  Rice  to  be 
taught  to  "turn  about  and  wheel  about  and  jump 
Jim  Crow." 

The  establishment  of  Punch  in  1841  put  an  end  to 
the  lithograph  sheet  caricatures  in  England.  The 
famous  Punch  cartoonists,  Richard  Doyle,  John 
Leech,  John  Tenniel,  Linley  Sanbourne,  and  Bernard 
Partridge,  followed  John  Doyle's  departure  in  pre- 
serving likenesses,  but  the  double-page  cartoon  with 
many  figures  has  been  the  exception  with  them 
rather  than  the  rule.  The  typical  Punch  cartoon  is 
confined  to  a  few  figures,  frequently  to  one.  While 
there  has  been  a  steady  advance  in  artistic  merit 
since  1841,  there  has  been  little  change  in  the  gen- 
eral style  of  political  caricature  in  Punch. 

In  the  United  States  the  many-figured  group 
cartoon  appears  to  have  been  a  steady  favorite  since 
Jackson's  time.  Its  immediate  inspirers  were  un- 
doubtedly Gillray  and  John  Doyle,  more  especially 
the  latter,  whose  sketches  had  been  filling  the  shop- 
windows  of  London  for  two  years  when  similar  pro- 


AND  ELECTIONS  145 

ductions  began  to  appear  on  this  side  of  the  water. 
Doyle  had  followed  Gillray  at  a  considerable  dis- 
tance, however;  for  he  was  a  far  inferior  artist  in 
every  way,  having  slight  perception  of  humor  and 
being  hard  and  inflexible  in  his  methods.  What 
Doyle  did  was  to  take  Gillray's  occasional  act  of 
giving  a  correct  likeness,  and  make  it  his  own  per- 
manent practise.  His  sketches  are  valuable  to-day 
chiefly  for  this  quality,  all  his  drawings  of  leading 
men  of  the  period  being  veritable  portraits  of  real 
historical  value,  some  of  them  the  best  in  existence. 

Our  early  American  political  caricaturists  followed 
Doyle's  example  as  faithfully  as  their  powers  as 
draftsmen  would  permit.  That  they  did  not  suc- 
ceed very  well  in  the  beginning  was  not  strange. 
Drawing  was  scarcely  taught  at  all  in  this  country 
at  the  time,  and  the  only  persons  who  were  skilled 
in  it  had  drifted  here  from  abroad,  and  had  little 
knowledge  of  our  politics  and  public  men.  It  was 
only  in  very  rare  instances,  therefore,  that  a  litho- 
graph caricature  of  an  earlier  date  than  1840  can  be 
found  which  is  even  tolerable,  either  in  conception 
or  execution.  There  was  a  slight  improvement  after 
that  period,  and  by  1850  a  sufficient  advance  had 
been  made  to  justify  the  assertion  that  the  founda- 
tion of  a  school  of  American  political  caricature  had 
been  laid. 

In  1848  Messrs.  Currier  &  Ives  began,  in  Nassau 
Street,  New  York  City,  the  publication  of  campaign 
caricatures  in  lithograph  sheets  similar  to  those 


146      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

which  had  been  issued  in  London  and  other  foreign 
cities.  This  was  the  year  of  the  Taylor-Cass-Van 
Buren  campaign,  which  resulted  in  Taylor's  election. 
Few  of  the  caricatures  of  that  year  are  obtainable 
now,  or  of  those  issued  by  the  same  firm  in  the  fol- 
lowing campaign  of  1852.  A  complete  set  had  been 
preserved  by  the  publishers,  but  was  stolen  during  a 
fire  several  years  ago. 

I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  James  M.  Ives,  of  Currier 
&  Ives,  for  much  interesting  information  about  the 
entire  series  of  early  caricatures,  and  for  several  of 
the  earlier  sketches,  including  the  original  drawing 
of  the  Jackson  kitchen-clearing  picture.  There  was 
a  contemporary  caricature,  now  unobtainable,  called 
"Rats  Leaving  a  Falling  House,"  which  represented 
Jackson  seated  in  a  kitchen,  smoking,  while  five  rats, 
bearing  the  heads  of  the  members  of  his  Cabinet, 
were  scurrying  to  get  out  by  doors,  windows,  and 
other  openings.  Jackson  had  planted  his  foot  on 
the  tail  of  the  one  which  bore  Martin  Van  Buren's 
head,  and  was  holding  him  fast.  This  caricature,  as 
well  as  its  companion,  "Jackson  Clearing  His 
Kitchen, "  is  believed  to  have  been  the  work  of  an 
English  artist  named  E.  W.  Clay.  Both  were  pub- 
lished in  1831,  soon  after  the  dissolution  of  the 
"kitchen  cabinet."  The  faces  in  the  kitchen-clear- 
ing scene  are  all  portraits :  Van  Buren,  Nicholas  Bid- 
die,  president  of  the  United  States  Bank,  and  Cal- 
houn  stand  nearest  to  Jackson;  prostrate  on  the 
floor  is  Dixon  H.  Lewis,  whose  portly  figure  was  a 


AND  ELECTIONS  147 

conspicuous  feature  of  the  Washington  life  of  the 
time;  and  fleeing  from  the  room  with  outstretched 
arms  is  Francis  P.  Blair,  editor  of  the  Jacksonian 
organ,  the  Globe. 

An  interesting  caricature  of  a  decade  or  so  later 
is  that  called  "A  Boston  Notion  of  the  World's 
Fair."  This  was  drawn  by  Clay,  and  was  aimed  at 
the  Abolition  movement,  which  was  steadily  mak- 
ing headway  in  Boston  under  the  leadership  of  Gar- 
rison. Uncle  Sam  appears  in  this  dressed  in  the 
style  of  Franklin,  as  was  always  his  garb  in  the 
earlier  American  caricatures.  The  World's  Fair  re- 
ferred to  was  that  held  in  New  York  in  1844. 

Clay  is  the  author  of  the  single  representative 
of  the  triangular  contest  of  1848,  when  Taylor, 
Cass,  and  Van  Buren  were  the  presidential  candi- 
dates. Marcy,  the  author  of  the  phrase  "To  the 
victors  belong  the  spoils,"  appears  in  this  with  a 
patch  on  his  trousers  marked  "50  cents,"  which 
was  an  invariable  feature  of  any  caricature  of  him. 
It  was  based  on  a  report  that  he  had,  while  governor 
of  New  York,  included  in  a  bill  against  the  State, 
for  travelling  expenses,  a  charge  "to  patching  trou- 
sers— 50  cents,"  his  reason  being  that  as  he  had 
torn  the  trousers  while  on  business  for  the  State,  it 
was  the  State's  duty  to  repair  the  damage. 

Van  Buren  is  shown  towing  the  boat  "up  Salt 
River,"  because  he  was  the  candidate  of  a  faction 
which  had  bolted  from  the  nomination  of  Cass,  and 
was  thus  making  the  latter's  election  impossible. 


148      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

Marcy  appears  in  the  caricature  of  the  Pierce  cam- 
paign of  1852  with  his  hand  covering  the  patch,  he 
having  obviously  become  weary  of  the  allusions  to 
it  by  this  time.  In  this  picture  Pierce,  of  whom  a 
striking  likeness  is  presented,  is  borne  upon  the 
shoulders  of  William  R.  King,  who  was  the  candi- 
date for  Vice-President,  while  Stephen  A.  Douglas 
assists  Marcy  in  supporting  him. 

In  their  original  form,  the  cartoons  here  given 
were  about  the  size  of  the  later  double-page  cartoon 
in  Puck.  With  the  exception  of  the  earliest  two,  all 
of  them  were  published  by  Currier  &  Ives.  In  all 
of  them  the  faces  are  carefully  drawn  portraits,  and 
the  figures  are  presented  in  natural  attitudes.  The 
general  style  of  the  pictures  is  similar  to  that  of  the 
earlier  political-caricature  period  in  European  coun- 
tries. The  figures  are  presented  almost  invariably 
without  background,  and  each  of  them  is  represented 
as  giving  utterance  to  some  sentiment  which  is  en- 
closed in  a  loop  over  his  head. 

This  use  of  the  loop  was  abandoned  in  nearly  all 
European  countries  before  its  appearance  here.  It 
is  to  be  found  in  some  but  not  in  all  of  the  Gillray 
caricatures,  in  some  of  Doyle's  and  very  rarely  in 
the  earlier  numbers  of  Punch.  The  European  artists 
abandoned  the  practise  when  they  began  to  draw 
and  compose  their  caricatures  so  well  that  they  told 
their  own  story,  with  the  aid  of  a  title  or  a  few 
words  of  dialogue  beneath  them.  It  was  abandoned 
in  this  country  later  under  like  conditions,  and  was 


THE    GREAT    PRESIDENTIAL    SWEEPSTAKES 


THE  "MUSTANG"  TEAM 


AND  ELECTIONS  149 

not  used  at  all  for  many  years  until  the  appearance 
of  comic  illustrated  supplements  in  the  Sunday  news- 
papers and  comic  features  in  the  daily  press,  when 
it  was  revived  and  brought  into  general  use.  The 
early  American  caricaturists  used  the  loop  as  gen- 
erously as  possible,  as  the  specimens  of  their  work 
given  herewith  testify.  Their  publishers  found  that 
the  public  demanded  this,  and  that  a  picture  without 
the  loops  would  not  sell. 

Yet  the  pictures  told  their  story  perfectly  without 
these  aids.  In  a  large  collection  of  them,  I  found 
none  whose  meaning  was  not  made  obvious  by  the 
title  beneath  it.  Take  those  relating  to  the  cam- 
paign of  1856,  for  example,  and  see  how  plainly  their 
meaning  appears  at  a  glance.  In  "The  Great  Presi- 
dential Sweepstakes"  Fillmore  is  starting  well  in  the 
lead,  because  as  the  candidate  of  the  American  party 
he  had  been  the  first  nominee  in  the  field.  Next  to 
him  comes  Buchanan,  borne  on  the  shoulders  of 
Franklin  Pierce,  whose  successor  in  the  presidency 
he  was  to  be;  and  bringing  up  the  rear  is  a  cart 
with  Fremont  in  the  driver's  seat,  Jessie  Benton 
Fremont  stowed  snugly  in  behind,  Mr.  Beecher  lift- 
ing at  the  wheel,  and  Horace  Greeley  coaxing  the 
sorry-looking  horse  to  pull  his  burden  through  the 
"Abolition  cesspool"  in  which  the  whole  party  is 
wallowing. 

"The  Mustang  Team"  tells  its  story  with  equal 
directness.  The  three  editors,  Greeley,  Bennett,  and 
Raymond,  are  astride  Fremont's  sorry  nag,  while  an- 


150      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

other  of  the  chief  editors  of  the  day,  General  James 
Watson  Webb,  is  catching  on  behind.  This  was  the 
forerunner  of  the  oft-repeated  cartoon  of  a  later  day, 
in  which  editors  of  our  great  journals  were  frequently 
made  to  figure  in  even  less  favorable  attitudes.  The 
Fremont  cart  has  the  same  look  as  in  the  first  pic- 
ture, with  the  addition  of  a  bag  for  the  "Bleeding 
Kansas  Fund." 

It  is  noticeable  that  Uncle  Sam,  who  figures  as 
toll-gatherer  in  this  picture,  and  who  has  changed 
his  costume  since  the  cartoon  of  1843,  is  presented 
without  the  chin  beard  which  he  wears  habitually  in 
modern  cartoons.  In  all  the  pictures  of  this  period 
he  is  clean-shaven,  and  with  a  costume  similar  to 
that  which  is  still  assigned  to  him. 

No  word  is  necessary  in  explanation  of  the  picture 
in  which  Farmer  Fillmore  is  about  to  scatter  the 
rats  who  are  swarming  about  the  "public  crib"  in 
the  hope  of  getting  possession  of  its  contents.  As  a 
prophecy  the  picture  was  as  bad  a  failure  as  its  com- 
panion— which  represents  Fillmore  as  standing  be- 
tween Fremont  and  Buchanan,  keeping  them  from 
each  other's  throats,  and  as  destined  presumably  to 
triumph  over  them  at  the  polls — for  Buchanan  was 
subsequently  victorious.  The  early  appearance  of 
the  "public  crib"  as  a  synonym  for  the  spoils  of 
office  is  a  point  of  some  interest.  It  was  evidently 
familiar  at  the  time  this  picture  was  drawn,  and 
may  date  back  to  Jackson's  time,  possibly  far  be- 
yond that,  coming  to  us  from  English  usage. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

CARTOONS  OF  LINCOLN'S  FIRST  CAMPAIGN 

MANY  of  the  cartoons  in  which  Lincoln  figured  rep- 
resent him  in  connection  with  one  or  more  fence 
rails.  He  had  become  the  "  rail-splitter "  candidate 
in  as  unexpected  a  way  as  General  Harrison  had 
become  the  log-cabin  candidate  a  few  years  earlier. 
At  the  Republican  State  convention  of  Illinois,  in 
May,  1860,  Lincoln  was  present  as  a  spectator  and 
was  invited  to  a  seat  on  the  platform.  Soon  after  the 
proceedings  began,  one  of  the  delegates,  the  once- 
famous  "Dick"  Oglesby,  asked  to  be  allowed  to 
offer  a  contribution  to  the  convention.  The  outer 
door  of  the  hall  swung  open  and  John  Hanks,  a 
cousin  of  Lincoln,  advanced  toward  the  platform 
bearing  two  weather-beaten  rails,  upon  which  was 
displayed  a  banner  with  this  inscription : 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

THE   BAIL  CANDIDATE 

FOR  PRESIDENT  IN  1860 

Two  rails  from  a  lot  of  3,000  made  in  1830  by 
Thomas  Hanks  and  Abe  Lincoln,  whose  father  was 
the  first  pioneer  of  Macon  County. 

This  novel  exhibit  caused  a  tremendous  uproar, 
with  cries  for  Lincoln.     As  soon  as  quiet  was  re- 

151 


152      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

stored,  he  arose  and  said:  "I  suppose  Lam  expected 
to  reply  to  that.  I  cannot  say  whether  I  made  those 
rails  or  not,  but  I  am  quite  sure  I  have  made  a 
great  many  just  as  good."  An  ardent  Lincoln  dele- 
gate said  afterward  in  describing  the  scene:  " These 
rails  were  to  represent  the  issue  in  the  coming  con- 
test between  labor  free  and  labor  slave;  between 
democracy  and  aristocracy.  Little  did  I  think  of 
the  mighty  consequences  of  this  little  incident;  little 
did  I  think  that  the  tall  and  angular  and  bony  rail- 
splitter,  who  stood  in  girlish  diffidence,  bowing  with 
awkward  grace,  would  fill  the  chair  once  filled  by 
Washington,  and  that  his  name  would  echo  in  chants 
of  praise  along  the  corridor  of  all  coming  time." 

The  caricatures,  reproduced  in  these  pages,  relat- 
ing to  the  great  campaign  of  1860  were  the  most 
successful  of  the  kind  ever  issued  in  this  country. 
The  two  in  which  Lincoln  is  the  chief  figure,  "The 
Nigger  in  the  Woodpile"  and  "An  Heir  to  the 
Throne,"  came  out  soon  after  his  nomination,  and 
the  likeness  of  him  which  is  presented  in  both  of 
them  seems  to  be  based  on  the  photograph  which 
was  taken  in  Chicago  in  1857.  It  is  a  powerful  face, 
full  of  the  same  sad  and  noble  dignity  which  became 
more  deeply  marked  upon  it  in  later  years — the  face, 
indeed,  even  then,  of  the  "kindly,  earnest,  brave, 
foreseeing  man"  of  Lowell's  immortal  ode. 

There  were  two  similar  pictures  in  the  1860  collec- 
tion, "The  Impending  Crisis"  and  "The  Irrepressi- 
ble Conflict,"  had  a  very  large  sale,  exceeding  50,000 


AND  ELECTIONS  153 

copies  each.  They  represented  the  failure  of  Seward 
to  obtain  the  Republican  nomination,  and  in  both 
Horace  Greeley  was  pictured  as  the  chief  agent  of  the 
disaster.  In  the  one  given  Mr.  Greeley  is  depicted 
as  having  pushed  Mr.  Seward  off  a  wharf,  and  as 
having  been  caught  in  the  act  by  Henry  J.  Ray- 
mond, while  General  Webb  gives  evidence  as  an  eye- 
witness. In  the  other  Mr.  Greeley  was  throwing  Mr. 
Seward  overboard  from  a  boat  which  Lincoln  was 
steering,  and  which  was  very  heavily  loaded  with 
the  leaders  of  the  Republican  party.  Mr.  Seward's 
famous  phrase,  which  gave  the  picture  its  title,  was 
uttered  in  October,  1858,  and  had  passed  almost  im- 
mediately into  the  political  vocabulary  of  the  people. 
One  of  the  most  peculiar  of  the  caricatures  of  this 
1860  campaign  is  that  called  "Progressive  Democ- 
racy." The  manner  in  which  the  heads  of  the  Dem- 
ocratic candidates  are  placed  upon  the  bodies  of 
the  mules  in  this  picture  is  the  same  as  that  em- 
ployed in  all  the  earlier  caricatures  before  the  year 
1800,  and  but  rarely  after  that  time.  Early  in  the 
nineteenth  century  the  caricaturists  began  to  form 
the  human  features  from  the  face  of  an  animal, 
rather  than  to  hang  the  human  head  in  front  of  the 
animars  ears  as  is  done  in  this  picture.  The  prom- 
inent position  occupied  by  the  Tammany  Indian 
gives  evidence  that  the  politics  of  that  period  did  not 
differ  in  some  respects  from  the  politics  of  to-day. 
All  these  caricatures  of  1856  and  1860  were  drawn 
by  Louis  Maurer. 


154      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

Belonging  to  a  different  class  of  caricatures  of  this 
period  are  four  cartoons,  published  in  a  series  on 
a  single  page  of  Harper's  Weekly  on  March  9, 
1861,  relating  to  Lincoln's  secret  midnight  journey 
through  Baltimore  in  February,  on  his  way  to 
Washington  to  be  inaugurated,  and  his  subsequent 
arrival.  These  reveal  much  of  the  contemptuous 
view  taken  of  Lincoln  in  certain  parts  of  the  North 
during  the  campaign. 

In  the  two  other  specimens  of  the  caricatures  of 
1861,  which  are  here  presented  with  those  of  later 
date,  the  most  interesting  is  that  called  "The  Seces- 
sion Movement."  This  is  an  almost  exact  repro- 
duction of  a  very  successful  caricature  of  Jackson's 
time.  Its  authorship  is  unknown.  In  its  original 
form  it  represented  Jackson  "going  the  whole  hog" 
in  his  quest  for  popularity,  reaching  out  for  a  butter- 
fly labelled  "Popularity/' and  exclaiming,  "By  the 
Eternal,  I'll  get  it!"  He  was  mounted  upon  the 
hog  which  South  Carolina  is  riding  in  the  present 
picture,  and  behind  him  upon  donkeys  rode  the 
members  of  his  "kitchen  cabinet,"  with  the  excep- 
tion of  Van  Buren.  The  latter,  mounted  upon  a 
fox,  was  taking  the  course  pursued  by  Georgia  in  the 
later  picture,  and  was  uttering  a  phrase  which  he 
had  made  public  in  one  of  his  letters,  to  the  effect 
that,  while  he  generally  followed  his  illustrious 
leader,  he  had  thought  it  advisable  in  the  present 
emergency  to  "deviate  a  little."  This  fixes  the  date 
of  the  original  picture  at  the  beginning  of  the  cam- 


AND  ELECTIONS  155 

paign  of  1832,  after  Van  Buren  had  resigned  from 
the  Cabinet. 

A  single  specimen  of  the  year  1864,  "Running  the 
Machine, "  shows  Lincoln's  Cabinet  in  session,  and 
gives  us  a  poor  portrait  of  him.  The  greenback  mill, 
which  Fessenden,  as  secretary  of  the  treasury,  is 
turning,  shows  a  productive  capacity  sufficient  to 
attract  the  interest  and  excite  the  envy  of  fiat  money 
advocates  of  a  later  time. 

The  caricature  which  distanced  all  others  in  popu- 
larity in  the  early  war  period  was  that  drawn  by 
Frank  Beard,  called  "Why  Don't  You  Take  It?" 
This  had  a  sale  exceeding  100,000  copies,  and  went  to 
all  parts  of  the  North.  It  was  reproduced,  in  a  weak- 
ened form,  and  placed  on  envelopes  among  the  count- 
less other  devices  which  were  used  in  that  way  to 
express  Union  sentiment.  An  interesting  collection 
of  these  decorated  envelopes  is  among  the  archives 
of  the  New  York  Historical  Society.  Mr.  Beard's 
formidable  bulldog  was  intended  to  represent  Gen- 
eral Scott,  and  in  some  of  the  reduced  reproductions 
Scott's  name  was  placed  upon  his  collar.  The  cari- 
cature hit  the  popular  fancy  when  the  Confederate 
army  was  threatening  to  advance  upon  Washington, 
and  streets  were  made  impassable  wherever  it  was 
exhibited  in  shop-windows. 

The  publication  of  these  lithograph  caricatures 
was  continued  through  the  Lincoln-McClellan  cam- 
paign of  1864,  a  specimen  of  which  is  presented, 
showing  General  McClellan  as  a  peacemaker  be- 


156      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

tween  Lincoln  and  Jefferson  Davis.  This  likeness 
of  Lincoln  is  so  inaccurate  as  to  be  almost  unrecog- 
nizable, and  is  by  John  Cameron,  the  artist  who 
drew  the  Cabinet  group.  Caricatures  were  issued 
also  during  the  campaigns  of  1868  and  1872,  two 
of  which  are  given  herewith.  One  represents  Gree- 
ley  in  a  perambulator  propelled  by  Theodore  Tilton, 
with  Victoria  Woodhull  behind  him,  and  Colonel 
John  Cochrane  in  front  admonishing  him  to  quiet- 
ness. The  other  represents  Schurz,  Greeley,  Sum- 
ner,  and  other  leaders  of  the  anti-Grant  movement 
dancing  on  a  gridiron.  They  did  not  differ  materi- 
ally from  the  earlier  ones,  showing  very  little  prog- 
ress in  either  design  or  drawing. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

WEEKLY  AND  DAILY  JOURNAL  CARTOONS 

THE  death-knell  of  the  lithograph-sheet  caricature 
was  sounded  when  the  illustrated  newspapers  began 
to  publish  their  political  caricatures.  They  did  not 
do  this  till  the  close  of  the  war,  though  Thomas 
Nast  made  his  first  appearance  in  Harper 's  Weekly 
while  the  war  was  in  progress.  His  pictures  during 
the  war  were  serious  in  purpose,  and  cannot  be 
classed  as  caricatures.  He  began  his  career  as  a 
political  caricaturist  when  Andrew  Johnson  started 
to  "swing  round  the  circle,"  but  his  fame  rests  on 
achievements  of  a  later  period.  His  series  of  about 
fifty  cartoons  upon  the  Tammany  Ring,  during  and 
following  the  exposures  of  1871,  constitute  a  distinct 
epoch  in  American  political  caricature.  He  was  un- 
like any  caricaturist  who  had  preceded  him,  and  his 
successors  have  not  followed  his  methods.  He  gave 
to  the  satiric  art  of  caricature  a  power  that  it  had 
never  before  known  in  this  country,  and  seldom  in 
any  country.  It  is  impossible  to  look  at  this  work 
of  his  in  the  light  of  what  had  preceded  it,  and  of 
what  has  come  after  it,  and  not  say  that  Nast  stands 
by  himself,  the  creator  of  a  school  which  not  only 
began  but  ended  with  him.  He  had  drawn  political 
caricatures  before  he  had  Tweed  and  his  allies  for 

157 


158      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

subjects,  and  he  drew  other  political  caricatures 
after  his  destructive,  deadly  work  with  them  was 
finished;  but  his  fame  will  rest  on  his  work  of  that 
period. 

The  most  powerful  of  the  series,  and  the  one 
of  lasting  historic  value  because  of  the  first  ap- 
pearance of  the  Tammany  tiger  as  the  symbol  of 
Tammany  Hall,  was  issued  two  days  before  the  elec- 
tion of  November,  1871,  in  which  the  Tweed  Ring 
was  completely  overthrown.  In  fact,  to  Nast  be- 
longs the  credit  of  creating,  in  addition  to  the  Tam- 
many tiger,  the  Democratic  donkey  and  the  Repub- 
lican elephant.  The  first  appearance  of  the  donkey 
as  the  Democratic  party  symbol  was  during  the 
Grant-Greeley  campaign  of  1872,  and  the  first  ap- 
pearance of  the  Republican  elephant  was  on  Novem- 
ber 7,  1874,  just  three  years  after  the  birth  of  the 
Tammany  tiger.  The  donkey  and  the  elephant, 
destined  to  indefinite  use  in  political  caricature  and 
parlance,  were  first  placed  together  in  one  cartoon 
by  Nast  in  1880. 

While  Nast  had  no  successor  in  artistic  methods, 
the  success  of  caricature  in  the  pages  of  an  illustrated 
newspaper  was  so  clearly  demonstrated  by  him, 
that  he  pointed  the  way  to  the  establishing  of  the 
weekly  journals  devoted  to  that  purpose  which 
sprang  up  later,  and  which,  for  a  time,  so  com- 
pletely occupied  the  field  that  Harper 's  Weekly  and 
other  similar  competitors  practically  withdrew  from  it. 

The  founder  and  chief  developer  of  that  school  of 


AND  ELECTIONS  159 

political  caricature  in  America,  as  it  appeared  for 
several  years  in  the  many-colored  cartoons  of  Puck 
and  Judge,  was  a  young  artist  and  actor  from  Vienna, 
named  Joseph  Keppler,  who  reached  Saint  Louis  in 
1868  in  search  of  his  fortune.  He  had  studied  draw- 
ing under  the  best  teachers  in  Vienna's  Academy  of 
Fine  Arts,  but  a  strong  inclination  for  acting  had 
taken  him  upon  the  stage.  During  the  first  year 
or  two  after  his  arrival  in  America  he  went  about 
the  country  as  a  member  of  a  travelling  theatrical 
troupe,  appearing  in  the  theatres  of  many  cities,  in- 
cluding those  at  Saint  Louis,  New  Orleans,  and  New 
York. 

Keppler's  hand  turned  naturally  to  caricature,  and 
after  vain  attempts  to  sell  some  of  his  drawings  to 
daily  newspapers  in  Saint  Louis,  he  started  in  that 
city  in  1869  an  illustrated  lithographic  weekly,  in 
German,  with  the  title  Die  Vehme.  The  paper  had  a 
short  life,  and  was  succeeded  in  1870  by  a  new  ven- 
ture called  Puck.  Two  volumes  of  this  were  issued, 
that  of  the  first  year  being  in  German  alone,  and 
that  of  the  second  in  both  German  and  English.  The 
enterprise  was  doing  fairly  well,  when  Keppler  was 
compelled  to  abandon  it.  He  went  to  New  York 
City  in  1873,  where  he  did  some  work  for  a  weekly 
illustrated  paper  for  a  time,  and  also  reappeared 
upon  the  local  stage  as  an  actor.  In  September,  1876, 
the  first  number  of  Puck  in  New  York  was  issued 
in  German,  and  in  March,  1877,  the  first  number  in 
English  made  its  appearance. 


160      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

It  was  a  very  different  Puck  from  what  it  be- 
came later.  Its  cartoons  were  drawn  on  wood,  and 
were  in  white  and  black.  The  drawing  was  strong, 
but  the  composition  of  the  pictures  was  almost  as 
crude  as  that  of  the  old  lithograph  sheets.  Kep- 
pler  at  first  followed  the  French  and  Italian  schools 
of  caricature,  exaggerating  the  size  of  the  heads  and 
the  length  of  the  legs.  He  very  soon  abandoned 
this,  however,  and  began  to  feel  his  way  toward  the 
gradual  unfolding  of  what  under  his  guidance  be- 
came a  distinctly  American  school  of  caricature.  In 
1878  he  began  to  draw  on  stone,  and  in  order  to 
brighten  the  effect  of  his  pictures  he  commenced  to 
tint  them  slightly  with  a  single  color.  In  1879  two 
colors  or  tints  were  used,  and  from  that  time  on  the 
growth  was  steady  and  rapid,  until  the  bright  and 
multicolored  cartoon  of  a  later  day  was  developed. 

No  one  can  look  at  the  lithograph-sheet  carica- 
tures of  1856  and  1860  and  not  be  struck  with  the 
strong  general  resemblance  which  they  bear  to  the 
cartoons  of  Keppler's  day.  There  is  the  same  use 
of  many  figures  in  both,  and  the  same  mingling  of 
editors,  politicians,  and  other  prominent  personages 
in  groups  and  situations  illustrating  and  ridiculing 
the  political  developments  of  the  day.  Instead  of 
using  the  overhead  loops  to  explain  the  meaning  of 
the  picture,  however,  the  Keppler  school  of  artists 
built  up  elaborate  backgrounds  and  surrounded  the 
central  figures  with  details  which,  if  the  cartoon  was 
a  success,  helped  to  tell  its  story  at  a  glance. 


AND  ELECTIONS  161 

The  artistic  merit  of  the  modern  cartoon  was  far 
in  advance  of  its  predecessors.  The  style  was  very 
different  from  that  of  the  Punch  cartoon,  which  has 
been  developed  from  the  same  original  source  as  the 
American.  Both  trace  their  pedigree  back  to  Gill- 
ray  and  Doyle,  but  the  development  has  been  in 
different  directions.  The  Punch  cartoon  of  to-day 
is  confined  in  almost  all  instances  to  a  few  figures, 
and,  except  in  the  great  advance  made  in  artistic 
merit,  does  not  differ  in  general  style  from  the 
Punch  cartoon  of  fifty  years  ago. 

The  American  colored  cartoon  was  a  modern  crea- 
tion. It  took  the  old  group  idea  of  Gillray  and 
Doyle,  made  it  gorgeous  with  colors,  built  it  up  and 
fortified  it  with  backgrounds,  and  imparted  to  the 
figures  and  faces  of  its  personages  a  freedom  of 
humor  and  a  terrible  vigor  of  satire  which  were  pe- 
culiarly American.  The  author  and  gradual  un- 
folder  of  this  cartoon  was  Keppler,  who  had  the 
honor  not  only  of  founding  a  school  of  American  cari- 
cature, but  of  establishing  successful  comic  journal- 
ism in  America.  He  had  able  disciples  and  coad- 
jutors in  Gillam,  Taylor,  Opper,  Dalrymple,  and 
others,  and  an  invaluable  associate  and  helper  on 
the  literary  side  in  H.  C.  Bunner;  but  he  was  the 
pioneer. 

This  school  of  weekly  journalism,  with  its  many- 
colored  political  cartoons  and  its  comic  and  satirical 
letter-press,  was  at  the  summit  of  its  power  in  the 
Blaine-Cleveland  campaign  of  1884.  Probably  no 


162      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

more  terribly  effective  series  of  political  caricatures 
was  ever  issued  than  that  which  Puck  put  forth  in 
that  campaign.  Certainly  nothing  that  the  same 
journal  did  subsequently  in  the  campaigns  of  1888 
and  1892;  while  it  retained  its  political  prominence, 
approached  them  in  power.  Four  of  the  most  fa- 
mous of  them,  all  from  the  pencil  of  Gillam,  who 
was  Keppler's  chief  assistant,  are  reproduced  in 
these  pages.  While  something  of  their  original  force 
is  taken  away  by  the  absence  of  the  colors  in  which 
they  were  first  published,  enough  of  it  remains  to 
give  an  adequate  idea  of  the  extraordinary  vigor 
and  merciless  directness  which  characterized  them. 
They  literally  struck  terror  to  the  supporters  of  Mr. 
Elaine  wherever  they  appeared,  and  there  was  no 
corner  in  the  land  to  which  they  did  not  penetrate. 

In  1884,  and  in  several  subsequent  national  cam- 
paigns, Puck,  as  the  representative  of  the  Mugwump 
and  Democratic  forces,  and  Judge,  as  the  representa- 
tive of  the  Republican  party,  exerted  an  influence 
in  the  politics  of  the  country  which  was  probably 
greater  than  that  of  all  the  daily  press  combined. 
Their  weekly  cartoons  were  awaited  eagerly,  were 
passed  from  hand  to  hand,  and  were  the  subject  of 
animated  comment  in  all  political  circles. 

But  this  influence  waned  so  rapidly  that  very  little 
of  it  remains  to-day.  Doubtless  one  cause  of  the 
decline  was  the  death  of  Keppler  and  the  ablest  of 
his  associates,  but  the  chief  cause  was  the  use  of  the 
cartoon  as  a  weapon  of  daily  journalism.  One  by 


*THE  IMPENDING  CRISI^-OR  CAUGHT  INTHE  ACT, 


'THE   JMI  GGER"  IN  THE  WOODPILE. 


AND  ELECTIONS  163 

one  the  leading  newspapers  of  the  land  added  a  car- 
toonist to  their  staffs,  until  the  journal  which  did 
not  employ  one  became  the  exception  to  the  general 
rule.  Many  of  them  publish  a  cartoon  daily,  on  the 
leading  topic  of  the  moment,  political  or  other,  and 
the  inevitable  consequence  is  that  the  freshness  is 
taken  from  all  subjects  for  such  treatment  long  be- 
fore the  weekly  journal  gets  around  to  it. 

The  daily  cartoon  differs  from  that  of  the  comic 
weeklies  in  that  it  has  no  color  and  it  is  usually  con- 
fined to  a  few  figures.  It  attempts  nothing  so  elabo- 
rate as  the  double-page  drawings,  of  which  the 
"Phyrne"  reproduced  from  Gillam's  hand  is  a 
sample.  The  work  is  executed,  of  course,  in  great 
haste  and  is  often  very  crude  in  drawing  and  finish, 
but  considering  the  pressure  under  which  both  artist 
and  engraver  perform  their  tasks,  it  is  surprisingly 
well  done.  The  increasing  demand  for  men  who 
can  do  it  has  brought  forward  a  new  school  of  cari- 
caturists whose  most  conspicuous  members  are  in 
artistic  ability,  fertility  of  imagination,  and  force- 
fulness  of  expression  the  equals  of  the  best  of  their 
predecessors.  The  influence  which  they  exert  upon 
public  opinion  is  incalculable.  They  have  largely 
superseded  the  editorial  page  of  the  newspaper  as 
the  moulder  of  political  thought.  Where  one  person 
reads  an  editorial  article,  a  thousand  look  at  the 
cartoon.  In  fact,  every  one  who  takes  up  the  news- 
paper sees  the  cartoon  and  is  influenced  more  or 
less  by  its  interpretation  of  an  event,  or  of  an  indi- 


164      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

vidual  act.  Usually  the  treatment  is  good-natured, 
but  in  many  instances  it  is  partisan  rather  than 
judicial,  taking  the  political  side  held  by  the  paper 
in  which  it  appears. 


CHAPTER  XX 

WASHINGTON'S  INAUGURATIONS 

FROM  the  first  the  American  people  elected  to  make 
of  the  inauguration  of  a  President  a  great  national 
festival.  They  did  this  spontaneously,  and  in  quiet 
disregard  of  all  efforts  to  prevent  them.  Washing- 
ton desired  to  be  installed  as  first  President  without 
pomp  or  parade,  as  was  natural  in  a  man  who  looked 
upon  his  consent  to  serve  as  the  greatest  sacrifice 
of  personal  feelings  and  wishes  he  had  ever  been 
called  upon  to  make,  and  who  entered  upon  his  task 
with  a  most  unfeigned  reluctance,  and  with  a  real 
diffidence  for  which  he  did  not  expect  to  receive 
credit  from  the  world.  He  wrote  to  Lafayette,  soon 
after  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution:  "In  answer 
to  the  observations  you  make  on  the  probability  of 
my  election  to  the  presidency,  knowing  me  as  you 
do,  I  need  only  say,  that  it  has  no  enticing  charms 
and  no  fascinating  allurements  for  me.  .  .  .  The 
increasing  infirmities  of  nature  and  the  growing  love 
of  retirement  do  not  permit  me  to  entertain  a  wish 
beyond  that  of  living  and  dying  an  honest  man  on 
my  own  farm."  Writing  at  about  the  same  time  on 
the  same  subject  to  Hamilton,  he  said:  "While  you 
and  some  others  who  are  acquainted  with  my  heart 
would  acquit,  the  world  and  posterity  might  possi- 

165 


166      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

bly  accuse  me  of  inconsistency  and  ambition. "  After 
it  had  been  decided  that  he  must  accept  the  office, 
he  wrote  to  General  Knox: 

In  confidence  I  tell  you  (with  the  world  it  would 
obtain  little  credit)  that  my  movements  to  the  chair 
of  government  will  be  accompanied  by  feelings  not 
unlike  those  of  a  culprit,  who  is  going  to  the  place 
of  his  execution;  so  unwilling  am  I,  in  the  evening 
of  a  life  nearly  consumed  in  public  cares,  to  quit  a 
peaceful  abode  for  an  ocean  of  difficulties,  without 
that  competency  of  political  skill,  abilities,  and  in- 
clination, which  are  necessary  to  manage  the  helm. 

In  his  diary,  under  date  of  April  16,  1789,  he 
wrote: 

About  ten  o'clock  I  bade  adieu  to  Mount  Vernon, 
to  private  life,  and  to  domestic  felicity;  and,  with 
a  mind  oppressed  with  more  anxious  and  painful 
sensations  than  I  have  words  to  express,  set  out  for 
New  York  in  company  with  Mr.  Thomson  and 
Colonel  Humphreys,  with  the  best  disposition  to 
render  service  to  my  country  in  obedience  to  its 
call,  but  with  less  hope  of  answering  its  expectations. 

Yet  his  journey  from  Mount  Vernon  to  New  York, 
which  he  wished  to  make  as  private  as  possible,  was 
converted  by  the  people,  overflowing  with  venera- 
tion and  gratitude,  into  an  unbroken  triumphal 
progress,  which  culminated  in  a  series  of  public 
demonstrations  and  ceremonies  that  surpassed  any- 
thing of  the  kind  yet  seen  in  the  young  republic. 


AND  ELECTIONS  167 

When  only  a  few  miles  from  Mount  Vernon,  at 
Alexandria,  he  was  greeted  with  a  great  assemblage 
of  friends  and  neighbors  and  honored  with  a  public 
banquet.  In  responding  to  the  address  of  the 
mayor,  Washington  said:  "All  that  now  remains  for 
me  is  to  commit  myself  and  you  to  the  care  of  that 
beneficent  Being  who,  on  a  former  occasion,  happily 
brought  us  together  after  a  long  and  distressing  sep- 
aration. Perhaps  the  same  gracious  Providence  will 
again  indulge  me.  But  words  fail  me.  Unutterable 
sensations  must  then  be  left  to  more  expressive 
silence,  while  from  an  aching  heart  I  bid  all  my 
affectionate  friends  and  kind  neighbors  farewell." 

From  Alexandria  to  Georgetown  he  was  accompa- 
nied by  neighbors  and  friends,  and  even  by  children, 
"a  company,"  says  a  contemporary  writer  in  a  let- 
ter published  in  The  Pennsylvania  Packet  of  April  21, 
1789,  "which  did  more  honor  to  a  man  than  all  the 
triumphs  that  Rome  ever  beheld;  and  the  person 
honored  is  more  illustrious  than  any  monarch  on 
the  globe."  The  people  of  Georgetown  escorted  him 
north  till  he  was  met  by  the  welcoming  people  of 
Baltimore,  and  this  continuous  attendance  was  kept 
up  till  he  reached  New  York.  In  Baltimore,  Wil- 
mington, Philadelphia,  great  preparations  had  been 
made  to  receive  him.  There  were  street  illumi- 
nations, banquets,  military  parades,  addresses  of 
welcome,  and  great  outpourings  of  people. 

Near  Philadelphia  he  was  met  at  the  Pennsyl- 
vania line  with  a  cavalcade  of  soldiers  and  escorted 


168      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

into  Chester.  In  resuming  his  journey  he  left  his 
carriage  and  mounted  a  white  horse,  upon  which,  in 
the  midst  of  a  troop  of  cavalry,  he  rode  into  Phila- 
delphia, passing  under  triumphal  arches  decorated 
with  laurel  and  evergreen  and  between  interminable 
lines  of  people  who  walled  both  sides  of  the  line 
of  march.  A  banquet  with  two  hundred  and  fifty 
guests  was  served.  At  the  close  of  the  exercises  in 
Philadelphia,  he  was  escorted  by  the  city  troops  to 
Trenton,  where  he  was  again  met  by  military  and 
civic  organizations  and  honored  with  attentions  like 
those  he  had  received  at  other  points. 

Through  Princeton  and  Brunswick,  amid  demon- 
strations of  honor  and  affection,  he  reached  Eliza- 
bethtown  Point,  where  he  was  met  by  the  com- 
mittees of  Congress  and  went  on  board  a  barge 
which  had  been  built  especially  to  convey  him 
through  the  bay  to  New  York  City.  It  had  been 
launched  only  two  days  before  his  arrival,  was  about 
fifty  feet  long  and  was  rowed  by  thirteen  masters 
of  vessels  dressed  in  white  uniforms  and  black  caps 
ornamented  with  fringes.  Six  other  barges,  with 
members  of  the  committees  and  distinguished  guests, 
followed  the  President's  barge  as  it  moved  slowly 
forward  to  the  point  of  landing  at  the  foot  of  Wall 
Street.  Doctor  James  Lloyd  Cogswell,  a  spectator 
of  the  scene,  thus  described  it  in  a  letter  written  on 
the  evening  of  the  memorable  day: 

From  the  Battery  to  the  Coffee  House,  where  the 
general  landed,  the  ships,  docks,  and  houses  were 


• 

ft. 


en 


K 
U 

O 


Ul 

5) 

U) 

UJ 

5 


AND  ELECTIONS  169 

crowded  with  people  as  thick  as  they  could  stand. 
The  guns  of  the  Battery  were  fired  as  soon  as  the 
general  passed,  and  all  the  people  upon  the  Battery 
gave  three  huzzas.  The  cheers  were  continued  along 
from  the  Battery  unto  the  place  of  landing  as  the 
barge  passed.  I  was  on  board  Captain  Woolsey's 
ship,  which  lies  in  the  slip  by  the  Coffee  House,  and 
had  a  very  fine  prospect.  The  successive  motion  of 
the  hats  from  the  Battery  to  the  Coffee  House  was 
like  the  rolling  motion  of  the  sea,  or  a  field  of  grain 
moving  with  the  wind  when  the  sun  is  frequently 
intercepted  with  a  cloud. 

Washington  was  met  at  the  landing  by  Governor 
Clinton,  and  invited  to  enter  a  carriage,  but  de- 
clined, preferring  to  walk  to  his  house  accompanied 
by  the  governor.  Doctor  Cogswell  thus  describes 
the  procession: 

The  procession  immediately  formed  and  pro- 
ceeded from  the  Coffee  House  into  Queen  Street, 
and  thence  to  the  President's  house.  The  light  in- 
fantry, grenadiers,  and  a  train  of  artillery  led  on 
the  procession.  The  officers  in  uniform,  not  on  duty, 
followed.  The  general  walked  after  them,  at  the 
right  hand  of  Governor  Clinton.  Then  followed  the 
principal  officers  of  state,  members  of  Congress, 
clergy,  and  citizens.  The  general  was  dressed  in 
blue,  with  buff-colored  underclothes.  The  proces- 
sion moved  very  slowly  and  with  great  solemnity. 
The  windows,  stoops,  and  streets  were  crowded;  the 
latter  so  closely  you  might  have  walked  on  people's 
heads  for  a  great  distance.  Notwithstanding  all  the 
exertions  of  the  guard  to  keep  the  crowd  off,  they 
were  so  wedged  in  by  Embree's  corner  (in  Pearl 


170      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

Street)  that  they  could  not  move  for  some  time. 
The  general  was  obliged  to  wipe  his  eyes  several 
times  before  he  got  into  Queen  Street.  After  they 
had  tarried  some  time  at  the  President's  house,  he 
returned  and  dined  with  Governor  Clinton.  .  .  . 
It  is  now  half  after  nine  o'clock.  Since  I  began  this 
letter  I  had  a  call  to  visit  a  sick  person  in  Beaver 
Street.  I  walked  up  Queen  and  Wall  Streets  and 
round  by  the  new  buildings  through  Hanover  Square. 
Every  house  is  illuminated  except  those  of  the 
Quakers.  The  appearance  is  brilliant  beyond  de- 
scription. 

The  house  which  had  been  fitted  up  for  Washing- 
ton as  President  was  known  as  the  Franklin  House, 
was  owned  by  Samuel  Osgood,  and  stood  at  the 
junction  of  Cherry  and  Pearl  Streets,  on  Franklin 
Square.  It  was  taken  down  in  1856.  Governor 
Clinton's  house  stood  in  Pearl  Street  opposite  Cedar. 
Washington  himself,  on  the  evening  of  the  day,  thus 
recorded  his  emotions  in  his  diary: 

The  display  of  boats  which  attended  and  joined 
us  on  this  occasion,  some  with  vocal  and  some  with 
instrumental  music;  the  decorations  of  the  ships, 
the  roar  of  the  cannon,  and  the  loud  acclamations 
of  the  people,  which  rent  the  skies  as  I  walked  along 
the  streets,  filled  my  mind  with  sensations  as  painful 
(considering  the  reverse  of  this  scene,  which  may 
be  the  case  after  all  my  labors  to  do  good)  as  they 
are  pleasing. 

The  inauguration  occurred  on  April  30.  For 
nearly  a  fortnight  crowds  had  been  pouring  into  the 


AND  ELECTIONS  171 

city  from  all  directions.  Taverns  and  boarding- 
houses  were  thronged  with  guests,  and  every  private 
house  was  filled  with  them.  At  twelve  o'clock  noon 
the  procession  which  was  to  escort  the  President  to 
Federal  Hall,  where  the  ceremonies  were  to  take 
place,  began  to  form  at  his  house.  It  was  composed 
of  a  troop  of  horse,  two  companies  of  grenadiers,  a 
company  of  light  infantry,  a  battalion,  and  a  com- 
pany of  Scotch  Highlanders  in  full  uniform,  with 
music  by  bagpipe.  Washington  rode  in  a  state 
coach,  drawn  by  four  horses.  The  military  contin- 
gent amounted  in  all  to  about  five  hundred  men.  It 
drew  up  about  two  hundred  yards  from  Federal  Hall, 
which  stood  in  Wall  Street  at  the  head  of  Broad, 
where  the  Sub-treasury  building  now  stands,  and 
Washington  passed  through  its  two  lines  into  the 
hall. 

The  building  in  which  the  inauguration  ceremonies 
were  held  had  been  the  city  hall,  built  in  1699.  It 
had  served  as  municipal  and  colonial  court-house, 
debtors7  and  county  jail,  and  capitol  of  the  province. 
When  New  York  was  selected  in  1788  for  the  meet- 
ing of  the  new  Congress,  it  was  determined  to  trans- 
form this  building  into  a  Federal  Hall  as  seat  of  the 
new  government.  Wealthy  citizens  advanced  $32,- 
000  for  that  purpose,  and  the  work  was  begun  in 
October,  1788.  It  was  thrown  open  for  inspection 
shortly  before  the  inauguration. 

A  grand  balcony  had  been  constructed  at  the 
second  story  of  the  building,  where  the  inauguration 


172      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

oath  was  to  be  administered.  An  accurate  view  of 
this  is  presented  in  the  cut  which  is  reproduced  in 
these  pages  from  Harper' 's  Weekly.  To  this  balcony 
Washington,  after  meeting  the  Senate  and  House  of 
Representatives  in  the  chamber  of  the  former,  was 
escorted  by  the  Vice-President,  John  Adams,  and  fol- 
lowed by  other  higher  public  functionaries.  The 
oath  of  office  was  administered  by  Chancellor  Liv- 
ingston. Washington  laid  his  hand  upon  the  Bible, 
bowed,  and  said  with  great  solemnity:  "I  swear,  so 
help  me  God!"  Bending  reverently,  he  kissed  the 
book.  Livingston  stepped  forward,  raised  his  hand 
and  said:  "Long  live  George  Washington,  President 
of  the  United  States !"  The  crowd  then  broke  into 
cheers,  cannon  boomed,  the  bells  of  the  city  rang, 
and  Washington,  accompanied  by  the  other  persons 
on  the  balcony,  proceeded  to  the  Senate-chamber, 
where  he  delivered  his  inaugural  address. 

Eliza  Morton  Quincy,  in  a  privately  printed  mem- 
oir, thus  describes  the  balcony  scene: 

I  was  on  the  roof  of  the  first  house  in  Broad 
Street,  which  belonged  to  Captain  Prince,  the  father 
of  one  of  my  schoolmates,  and  so  near  Washington 
that  I  could  almost  hear  him  speak.  The  windows 
and  roofs  of  the  houses  were  crowded,  and  in  the 
streets  the  throng  was  so  dense  that  it  seemed  as 
if  one  might  literally  walk  on  the  heads  of  the  people. 
The  balcony  of  the  hall  was  in  full  view  of  this 
assembled  multitude.  In  the  centre  of  it  was  placed 
a  table,  with  a  rich  covering  of  red  velvet;  and  upon 
this  a  crimson-velvet  cushion,  on  which  lay  a  large 


AND  ELECTIONS  173 

and  elegant  Bible.  This  was  all  the  paraphernalia 
for  this  august  scene.  All  eyes  were  fixed  upon  the 
balcony,  where,  at  the  appointed  hour,  Washington 
entered,  accompanied  by  the  chancellor  of  the  State 
of  New  York,  by  John  Adams,  Vice-President;  Gov- 
ernor Clinton,  and  many  other  distinguished  men. 
By  the  great  body  of  the  people  he  had  probably 
never  been  seen  except  as  a  military  hero.  The  first 
in  war  was  now  to  be  the  first  in  peace.  His  en- 
trance upon  the  balcony  was  announced  by  univer- 
sal ^shouts  of  joy  and  welcome.  He  was  dressed  in 
a  suit  of  black  velvet,  and  his  appearance  was  most 
dignified  and  solemn.  Advancing  to  the  front  of 
the  balcony,  he  laid  his  hand  on  his  heart  and  bowed 
several  times,  and  then  retreated  to  an  armchair 
near  the  table.  The  populace  appeared  to  under- 
stand that  the  scene  had  overcome  him,  and  were 
at  once  hushed  into  profound  silence. 

Other  spectators  do  not  agree  with  Mrs.  Quincy 
as  to  the  clothes  worn  by  Washington.  According 
to  Washington  Irving,  he  "was  clad  in  a  full  suit  of 
dark-brown  cloth  of  American  manufacture,  with  a 
steel-hilted  dress  sword,  white-silk  stockings,  and 
silver  shoe-buckles.  His  hair  was  dressed  and  pow- 
dered in  the  fashion  of  the  day,  and  worn  in  a  bag 
and  solitaire."  Senator  Maclay  says,  he  "was 
dressed  in  a  full  suit  of  dark-brown  cloth  manufac- 
tured at  Hartford,  with  metal  buttons  with  an  eagle 
on  them/'  Maclay,  who  heard  the  inaugural  ad- 
dress, wrote: 

This  great  man  was  agitated  and  embarrassed 
more  than  ever  he  was  by  the  levelled  cannon  or 


174      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

pointed  musket.  He  trembled,  and  several  times 
could  scarce  make  out  to  read,  though  it  must  be 
supposed  he  had  often  read  it  before.  He  put  part 
of  the  fingers  of  his  left  hand  into  the  side  of  what  I 
think  the  tailors  call  the  fall  of  the  breeches,  chang- 
ing the  paper  into  his  right  hand.  After  some  time 
he  then  did  the  same  thing  with  some  of  the  fingers 
of  his  right  hand.  When  he  came  to  the  words  all 
the  world,  he  made  a  flourish  with  his  right  hand, 
which  left  rather  an  ungainly  impression.  I  sin- 
cerely, for  my  part,  wished  all  set  ceremony  in  the 
hands  of  the  dancing-masters,  and  that  this  first  of 
men  had  read  off  his  address  in  the  plainest  man- 
ner, without  ever  taking  his  eyes  from  the  paper, 
for  I  felt  hurt  that  he  was  not  first  in  every- 
thing. 

Fisher  Ames,  who  also  heard  him,  was  more  deeply 
impressed: 

He  addressed  the  two  Houses  in  the  Senate- 
chamber;  it  was  a  very  touching  scene,  and  quite  of 
a  solemn  kind.  His  aspect  grave,  almost  to  sad- 
ness; his  modesty,  actually  shaking;  his  voice  deep, 
a  little  tremulous,  and  so  low  as  to  call  for  close 
attention,  added  to  the  series  of  objects  presented  to 
the  mind,  and  overwhelming  it,  produced  emotions 
of  the  most  affecting  kind  upon  the  members. 

After  the  address,  Washington  and  all  the  other 
officials  present  at  the  exercises  proceeded  on  foot, 
accompanied  by  the  same  military  procession,  to 
Saint  PauPs  chapel,  where  religious  services  were 
conducted  by  the  Bishop  of  New  York.  Fisher 


RUNNING  THClttACHINE?': 


THE  "SECESSION 


AND  ELECTIONS  175 

Ames  wrote  in  regard   to  this  part   of  the  cere- 
monies: 

I  was  present  in  the  pew  with  the  President,  and 
must  assure  you  that,  after  making  all  deductions 
for  the  delusion  of  one's  fancy  in  regard  to  characters, 
I  still  think  of  him  with  more  veneration  than  for 
any  other  person.  Time  has  made  havoc  upon  his 
face.  That,  and  many  other  circumstances  not  to 
be  reasoned  about,  conspired  to  keep  up  the  awe  I 
brought  with  me. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

JOHN  ADAMS'S  GLOOMY  ENTRANCE 

So  long  as  Washington  was  on  the  scene  he  domi- 
nated it  completely.  He  came  much  nearer  to  hav- 
ing his  own  way  at  his  second  inauguration,  in  Phila- 
delphia, than  he  had  been  able  to  at  his  first,  in 
New  York,  chiefly  through  the  desire  of  his  political 
rivals  to  prevent  a  fresh  demonstration  of  the  popu- 
lar adoration  of  him.  Jefferson's  immortal  devotion 
to  republican  simplicity  had  its  origin  in  this  desire; 
for  he  favored  the  abolition  of  all  public  exercises  at 
the  second  inauguration,  and  wished  to  have  the 
oath  of  office  administered  to  Washington  privately 
at  his  house,  a  certificate  of  it  to  be  deposited  in  the 
State  Department.  Hamilton  took  the  same  view, 
but  other  members  of  the  Cabinet  favored  exercises 
in  the  open  Senate-chamber,  and  their  opinion  pre- 
vailed. There  was  as  large  an  attendance  as  the 
hall  would  hold,  but  no  parade  or  other  popular 
demonstration.  The  people  went  on  worshipping 
their  hero  with  undiminished  fervor,  however.  They 
celebrated  his  birthday  with  such  honors  and  in  so 
general  a  way,  that  his  rivals  were  more  distressed 
than  ever,  and  began  to  see  in  this  infatuation  a 
menace  to  the  republic,  a  threat  of  monarchy. 

176 


PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS       177 

The  chief  sufferer  from  this  condition  of  affairs 
was  John  Adams,  when  the  time  came  to  inaugurate 
him  as  Washington's  successor.  He  is  the  only 
President  we  have  had,  with  the  possible  exception 
of  Mr.  Van  Buren,  who  can  be  said  to  have  played 
a  secondary  part  at  his  own  inauguration.  The 
people  had  no  eyes  for  him;  they  saw  only  the 
stately  figure  of  Washington  passing  forever  from 
the  scene.  The  ceremonies  were  held  in  Indepen- 
dence Hall,  Philadelphia,  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives. Washington  drove  to  the  hall  in  his 
coach-and-four,  and  was  lustily  cheered  both  out- 
side and  inside  the  building.  He  passed  quickly  to 
his  seat,  as  if  eager  to  stop  the  applause.  Adams 
entered  a  few  minutes  later,  dressed  in  a  light  drab 
suit,  and  passed  slowly  down  the  aisle,  bowing  in 
response  to  the  respectful  applause  which  greeted 
him.  He  took  the  oath,  and  then  delivered  his  in- 
augural address.  Writing  to  his  wife  on  the  follow- 
ing day,  Mr.  Adams  thus  described  the  scene  in 
which,  as  he  was  fully  conscious,  he  was  playing 
only  a  secondary  part: 

Your  dearest  friend  never  had  a  more  trying  day 
than  yesterday.  A  solemn  scene  it  was  indeed;  and 
it  was  made  more  affecting  to  me  by  the  presence 
of  the  general,  whose  countenance  was  as  serene 
and  unclouded  as  the  day.  He  seemed  to  me  to 
enjoy  a  triumph  over  me.  Methought  I  heard  him 
say:  "Ay!  I  am  fairly  out,  and  you  fairly  in.  See 
which  of  us  will  be  happiest."  When  the  ceremony 


178      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

was  over,  he  came  and  made  me  a  visit,  and  cordially 
congratulated  me,  and  wished  my  administration 
might  be  happy,  successful,  and  honorable. 

In  the  chamber  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
was  a  multitude  as  great  as  the  space  could  contain, 
and  I  believe  scarcely  a  dry  eye  but  Washington's. 
The  sight  of  the  sun  setting  full  orbed,  and  another 
rising,  though  less  splendid,  was  a  novelty.  I  had 
not  slept  well  the  night  before  and  did  not  sleep  well 
the  night  after.  I  was  unwell  and  did  not  know 
whether  I  should  get  through  or  not.  I  did,  how- 
ever. How  the  business  was  received,  I  know  not, 
only  I  have  been  told  that  Mason,  the  treaty  pub- 
lisher, said  we  should  lose  nothing  by  the  change, 
for  he  had  never  heard  such  a  speech  in  public  in  his 
life.  All  agree  that,  taken  together,  it  was  the  sub- 
limest  thing  ever  exhibited  in  America. 

Four  days  later  the  new  President  was  still  dwell- 
ing upon  the  sadness  and  gloom  of  the  occasion, 
saying  in  another  letter  to  his  wife: 

Mrs.  Gushing  will  call  upon  you,  and  give  you  an 
account  of  what  they  call  the  inauguration.  It  is 
the  general  report  that  there  has  been  more  weeping 
than  there  has  ever  been  at  the  representation  of 
any  tragedy.  But  whether  it  was  from  grief  or 
joy,  whether  from  the  loss  of  their  beloved  Presi- 
dent, or  from  the  accession  of  an  unbeloved  one,  or 
from  the  pleasure  of  exchanging  Presidents  without 
tumult,  or  from  the  novelty  of  the  thing,  or  from 
the  sublimity  of  it  arising  out  of  the  multitude 
present,  or  whatever  other  cause,  I  know  not.  One 
thing  I  know.  I  am  a  being  of  too  much  sensibility 


AND  ELECTIONS  179 

to  act  any  part  well  in  such  an  exhibition.  Perhaps 
there  is  little  danger  of  my  having  such  another 
scene  to  feel  or  behold. 

Doubtless  the  real  cause  for  his  depression  was 
the  solitude  in  which  he  found  himself  as  revealed 
in  the  following  passage  from  the  same  letter: 

The  stillness  and  silence  astonishes  me.  Every- 
body talks  of  the  tears,  the  full  eyes,  the  streaming 
eyes,  the  trickling  eyes,  etc.,  but  all  is  enigma  be- 
yond. No  one  descends  to  particulars  to  say  why 
or  wherefore;  I  am,  therefore,  left  to  suppose  that  it 
is  all  grief  for  the  loss  of  their  beloved.  Two  or  three 
persons  have  ventured  to  whisper  in  my  ear  that  my 
speech  made  an  agreeable  impression. 

This  was  written  on  March  9.  The  gloom  and 
solitude  were  still  unbroken  a  full  week  later,  for 
on  March  17  he  again  wrote: 

It  would  have  given  me  great  pleasure  to  have 
had  some  of  my  family  present  at  my  inauguration, 
which  was  the  most  affecting  and  overpowering  scene 
I  ever  acted  in.  I  was  very  unwell,  had  no  sleep 
the  night  before,  and  really  did  not  know  but  I 
should  have  fainted  in  the  presence  of  the  world.  I 
was  in  great  doubt  whether  to  say  anything  or  not 
besides  repeating  the  oath.  And  now  the  world  is 
as  silent  as  the  grave.  All  the  Federalists  seem  to 
be  afraid  to  approve  anybody  but  Washington.  The 
Jacobin  papers  damn  with  faint  praise,  and  under- 
mine with  misrepresentation  and  insinuation.  If  the 
Federalists  go  to  playing  pranks,  I  will  resign  the 


180      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

office  and  let  Jefferson  lead  them  to  peace,  wealth, 
and  power  if  he  will.  From  the  situation  where  I 
now  am,  I  see  a  scene  of  ambition  beyond  all  my 
former  suspicion  or  imagination;  an  emulation  which 
will  turn  our  government  topsyturvy.  Jealousies 
and  rivalries  have  been  my  theme,  and  checks  and 
balances  as  their  antidotes  till  I  am  ashamed  to 
repeat  the  words;  but  they  never  stared  me  in  the 
face  in  such  horrid  forms  as  at  present. 

To  the  account  which  Mr.  Adams  gave  of  the 
inauguration  scene  should  be  added  the  striking  pic- 
ture of  what  followed  when  the  ceremonies  were 
ended.  William  A.  Duer,  who  was  president  of 
Columbia  College  between  1829  and  1842,  says,  in 
his  personal  recollections,  that,  when  at  the  close 
Washington  moved  toward  the  door,  there  was  a 
precipitate  rush  from  the  gallery  and  corridors  for 
the  street,  and  he  found  a  great  throng  awaiting  him 
as  he  emerged  from  the  door.  They  cheered  him, 
and  he  waved  his  hat  to  them,  his  countenance 
radiant  with  benignity,  his  gray  hair  streaming  in 
the  wind.  He  walked  to  his  house,  followed  by  the 
crowd,  and  on  reaching  it  turned  about  for  a  final 
greeting.  His  countenance  assumed  a  grave  and 
almost  melancholy  expression,  his  eyes  were  bathed 
in  tears,  and  only  by  gestures  could  he  indicate  his 
thanks  and  convey  his  farewell  blessing. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

THE  TRUTH  ABOUT  JEFFERSONIAN  SIMPLICITY 

No  inauguration  myth  has  been  more  tenacious  of 
life  than  that  which  pictured  Jefferson,  attired  as 
a  plain  citizen,  riding  on  horseback  to  the  Capitol, 
hitching  his  horse  to  the  palings,  and  walking,  un- 
attended, into  the  Senate-chamber  to  take  the  oath 
as  President.  To  have  done  this  would  have  been 
in  accordance  with  his  previous  utterances,  for  he 
had  strongly  condemned  as  savoring  of  monarchy 
all  public  ceremony  at  the  swearing  in  of  a  President. 
When  the  time  for  his  own  inauguration  arrived, 
however,  the  case  seems  to  have  looked  different  to 
him.  Whether  it  was  because  he  was  to  be  the  first 
President  inaugurated  at  the  new  Capitol,  or  because 
of  an  unwillingness  to  disappoint  the  large  numbers 
of  his  friends  and  partisans  who  had  assembled  to 
honor  him,  is  not  clear;  but  the  fact  is  that  he  did 
permit  a  considerable  display  at  the  ceremonies. 
He  was  met  at  the  door  of  his  boarding-house,  which 
was  only  a  stone's  throw  from  the  Capitol,  by  a 
militia  artillery  company  and  a  procession  of  citizens, 
and,  escorted  by  these,  he  went  on  foot  to  the  Capi- 
tol. The  horseback  story,  or  "fake/7  as  it  would  be 
denominated  in  modern  journalism,  was  the  inven- 
tion of  an  Englishman  named  John  Davis,  who  put 

181 


182      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

it  in  a  book  of  American  travels  which  he  published 
in  London  two  years  later.  In  order  to  give  it  an 
air  of  veracity,  Davis  declared  that  he  was  present 
at  the  inauguration,  which  was  not  true,  A  vera- 
cious account  of  the  ceremonies  was  sent  to  England 
by  Edward  Thornton,  who  was  then  in  charge  of  the 
British  legation  at  Washington.  He  enclosed  a  copy 
of  the  new  President's  inaugural  address,  and,  after 
making  some  comments  upon  its  democratic  ten- 
dencies, went  on  to  say: 

The  same  republican  spirit  which  runs  through 
this  performance,  and  which  in  many  passages  dis- 
covers some  bitterness  through  all  the  sentiments  of 
conciliation  and  philanthropy  with  which  it  is  over- 
charged, Mr.  Jefferson  affected  to  display  in  per- 
forming the  customary  ceremonies.  He  came  from 
his  own  lodgings  to  the  house  where  the  Congress 
convenes,  and  which  goes  by  the  name  of  the  Capi- 
tol, on  foot,  in  his  ordinary  dress,  escorted  by  a 
body  of  militia  artillery  from  the  neighboring  State, 
and  accompanied  by  the  secretaries  of  the  navy  and 
the  treasury,  and  a  number  of  his  political  friends 
in  the  House  of  Representatives.  He  was  received 
by  Mr.  Burr,  the  Vice-President  of  the  United 
States,  who  arrived  a  day  or  two  ago  a.t  the  seat  of 
government,  and  who  was  previously  admitted  this 
morning  to  the  chair  of  the  Senate;  and  was  after- 
ward complimented  at  his  own  lodgings  by  the  very 
few  foreign  agents  who  reside  at  this  place,  by  the 
members  of  Congress,  and  other  public  officials. 

The  new  Capitol  was  then  in  process  of  construc- 
tion. Only  the  north  wing  was  so  far  completed  as 


WHY  DON'T  YOU   TAKE   ITl 


THE  TRUE  ISSUE  OR  THATS  WHATS  THE  MATTER1. 


AND  ELECTIONS  183 

to  be  occupied  by  the  Senate,  the  courts,  and  the 
small  library  of  Congress.  To  the  north  wing  Jeffer- 
son, accompanied  by  a  few  officials  and  his  friends, 
proceeded.  On  reaching  the  Senate-chamber  in 
which  he  was  to  be  inaugurated,  Jefferson  became  a 
member  of  one  of  the  most  striking  groups  ever 
gathered  in  a  public  place.  On  one  side  of  him 
stood  John  Marshall,  as  chief  justice,  to  administer 
the  oath,  and  on  the  other  Aaron  Burr,  who  was  to 
be  sworn  in  as  Vice-President.  As  described  by  his 
contemporaries,  Jefferson  was  a  remarkable  person- 
age. He  was  very  tall,  six  feet  two  and  a  half 
inches  in  height,  with  a  sandy  complexion,  awkward 
manners,  and  shy  and  cold  in  bearing.  Senator 
Maclay  wrote  this  description  of  him  as  he  appeared 
in  1790: 

Jefferson  is  a  slender  man,  has  rather  the  air  of 
stiffness  in  his  manner.  His  clothes  seem  too  small 
for  him.  He  sits  in  a  lounging  manner,  on  one  hip 
commonly,  and  with  one  of  his  shoulders  elevated 
much  above  the  other.  His  face  has  a  sunny  aspect. 
His  whole  figure  has  a  loose,  shackling  air.  He  had 
a  rambling,  vacant  look,  and  nothing  of  that  firm, 
collected  deportment  which  I  expected  would  dig- 
nify the  presence  of  a  secretary  or  minister.  I  looked 
for  gravity,  but  a  laxity  of  manner  seemed  shed 
about  him.  He  spoke  almost  without  ceasing;  but 
even  his  discourse  partook  of  his  personal  demeanor. 
It  was  loose  and  rambling;  and  yet  he  scattered  in- 
formation wherever  he  went,  and  some  even  brilliant 
sentiments  sparkled  from  him. 


184      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

Joseph  Story,  writing  of  John  Marshall  in  1808, 
thus  pictured  him: 

A  tall,  slender  figure,  not  graceful  or  imposing, 
but  erect  and  steady.  His  hair  is  black,  his  eyes 
small  and  twinkling,  his  forehead  rather  low;  but 
his  features  are  in  general  harmonious.  His  man- 
ners are  plain  yet  dignified,  and  an  unaffected  mod- 
esty diffuses  itself  through  all  his  actions.  His  dress 
is  very  simple,  yet  neat;  his  language  chaste,  but 
hardly  elegant;  it  does  not  flow  rapidly,  but  it  sel- 
dom wants  precision.  In  conversation  he  is  quite 
familiar,  but  is  occasionally  embarrassed  by  a  hesi- 
tancy and  drawling.  ...  I  love  his  laugh — it  is 
too  hearty  for  an  intriguer;  and  his  good  temper  and 
unwearied  patience  are  equally  agreeable  on  the 
bench  and  in  the  study. 

Burr,  the  third  personage  in  this  group,  was  rather 
small  in  stature,  but  dignified  and  easy  in  manners 
and  dressed  with  aristocratic  care.  He  was,  says 
Henry  Adams  in  his  "History  of  the  United  States," 
to  which  I  am  indebted  for  most  of  the  material 
of  this  chapter: 

An  aristocrat  imbued  in  the  morality  of  Lord 
Chesterfield  and  Napoleon  Bonaparte.  Colonel 
Burr  was  the  chosen  head  of  Northern  democ- 
racy, idol  of  the  wards  of  New  York  City,  and 
aspirant  to  the  highest  offices  he  could  reach  by 
means  legal  or  beyond  the  law;  for,  as  he  pleased 
himself  with  saying,  after  the  manner  of  the  First 
Consul  of  the  French  Republic,  "Great  souls  care 
little  for  small  morals." 


AND  ELECTIONS  185 

The  three  men  were  agreed  in  one  respect:  they 
distrusted  and  disliked  one  another  thoroughly. 
Jefferson  both  feared  and  hated  Marshall,  saying 
of  him  that  he  had  a  mind  of  that  gloomy  malignity 
which  would  never  let  him  forego  the  opportunity 
of  satiating  it  on  a  victim.  Marshall  said  of  Jeffer- 
son, shortly  before  the  inauguration,  that  by  weak- 
ening the  office  of  President  he  would  increase  his 
personal  power,  and  that  his  letters  had  shown  that 
his  morals  could  not  be  pure.  Both  Jefferson  and 
Marshall  looked  upon  Burr  as  a  political  and  social 
adventurer  who  was  living  up  to  his  own  creed, 
"Great  souls  care  little  for  small  morals." 

The  outgoing  President,  Mr.  Adams,  was  not 
present  at  the  exercises;  but  he  undoubtedly  took 
a  grim  pleasure  in  the  presence  of  Marshall,  whom 
he  had  made  chief  justice,  greatly  to  the  wrath  of 
Jefferson,  only  a  few  weeks  before.  After  the  cere- 
monies the  new  President  proceeded  to  the  execu- 
tive mansion,  or  "The  Palace,"  as  it  was  then 
styled,  in  the  same  manner  as  he  had  gone  to  the 
Capitol. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

INAUGURATION  CLOTHES  AND  CUSTOMS 

WASHINGTON  set  the  example,  which  has  been  fol- 
lowed at  frequent  intervals  by  new  Presidents  even 
to  our  day,  of  wearing  at  the  first  inauguration 
ceremonies  clothing  of  American  manufacture.  He 
was  dressed  in  a  suit  of  dark  cloth  made  at  Hartford. 
I  have  been  able  to  find  no  mention  of  the  national- 
ity of  the  "light  drab  suit"  which  John  Adams  wore. 
Jefferson  was  inaugurated  in  his  "every-day  clothes/7 
which  may  or  may  not  have  been  exclusively  Ameri- 
can; but  before  the  end  of  his  service  as  President 
he  appeared  at  his  New  Year  reception  dressed  in 
an  entire  suit  of  homespun.  Madison  carried  the 
matter  a  step  further;  for,  as  he  passed  down  the 
aisle  of  the  House  of  Representatives  to  be  inau- 
gurated, he  was  spoken  of  as  a  "walking  argument 
in  favor  of  the  encouragement  of  native  wool." 
His  coat  had  been  made  on  the  farm  of  Colonel 
Humphreys,  and  his  waistcoat  and  small  clothes  on 
that  of  Chancellor  Livingston,  all  from  the  wool  of 
merino  sheep  raised  in  the  country.  John  Quincy 
Adams  says  in  his  diary  that  the  house  was  very 
much  crowded,  and  that  its  appearance  was  mag- 
nificent, but  that  Mr.  Madison  read  his  address  in 
a  tone  so  low  that  it  could  not  be  heard.  Contem- 

186 


PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS       187 

porary  descriptions  of  Madison  picture  him  as  a 
small,  modest,  and  jovial  man.  Washington  Irving 
wrote  of  him  in  1812,  at  the  time  of  his  second 
election  to  the  presidency:  "As  to  Jemmy  Madison, 
— oh,  poor  Jemmy! — he  is  but  a  withered  little 
apple-john." 
Grigsby,  in  his  "Convention  of  1776,"  says: 

In  his  dress  he  was  not  at  all  eccentric  or  given 
to  dandyism,  but  always  appeared  neat  and  genteel, 
and  in  the  costume  of  a  well-bred  and  tasty  old- 
school  gentleman.  I  have  heard  in  early  life  he 
sometimes  wore  light-colored  clothes;  but  from  the 
time  I  first  knew  him  .  .  .  never  any  other  color 
than  black,  his  coat  being  cut  in  what  is  termed 
dress  fashion;  his  breeches  short,  with  buckles  at 
the  knees,  black-silk  stockings,  and  shoes  with 
strings  or  long  fair  top-boots  when  out  in  cold 
weather,  or  when  he  rode  on  horseback,  of  which 
he  was  fond.  .  .  .  He  wore  powder  on  his  hair, 
which  was  dressed  full  over  the  ears,  tied  behind, 
and  brought  to  a  point  above  the  forehead,  to  cover 
in  some  degree  his  baldness,  as  may  be  noticed  in 
all  the  likenesses  taken  of  him. 

Sir  Augustus  Foster,  whom  President  Madison 
sent  out  of  the  country  in  1812,  when  the  war  with 
England  came  on,  wrote  of  him: 

I  thought  Mr.  Jefferson  more  of  a  statesman  and 
man  of  the  world  than  Mr.  Madison,  who  was  rather 
too  much  the  disputatious  pleader;  yet  the  latter 
was  better  informed,  and,  moreover,  a  social,  jovial, 
and  good-humored  companion,  full  of  anecdote, 


188      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

sometimes  rather  of  a  loose  description,  but  oftener 
of  a  political  and  historical  interest.  He  was  a  little 
man,  with  small  features,  rather  weazened  when  I 
saw  him,  but  occasionally  lit  up  with  a  good-natured 
smile.  He  wore  a  black  coat,  stockings  with  shoes 
buckled,  and  had  his  hair  powdered,  with  a  tail. 

American  wool  seems,  therefore,  to  have  made  its 
first  appearance  as  a  "walking  argument"  under 
favorable  conditions.  John  Quincy  Adams,  accord- 
ing to  his  biographer,  Mr.  Morse,  "was  dressed  in  a 
black  suit  of  which  all  the  materials  were  of  Ameri- 
can manufacture." 

I  can  find  no  mention  anywhere  of  the  clothes 
worn  by  James  Monroe  when  he  was  inaugurated  in 
1817.  The  occasion  was  notable  chiefly  for  being 
the  first  one  held  out  of  doors  since  the  seat  of 
government  had  been  moved  to  Washington.  There 
had  been  out-of-door  exercises  when  Washington 
was  installed  in  New  York,  but  all  his  successors  till 
Monroe  had  been  inaugurated  within  doors.  It  is 
said  by  some  authorities  that  the  proposal  to  change 
to  the  open  air  in  1817  was  the  outcome  of  a  long 
and  bitter  wrangle  between  the  two  houses  as  to 
the  division  of  seats  in  the  house  at  the  ceremonies. 
Agreement  being  apparently  impossible,  some  one 
suggested  that  by  going  out  of  doors,  room  enough 
could  be  found  for  everybody,  and  the  idea  was 
acted  upon  joyfully.  An  elevated  platform  was 
erected  for  the  occasion  under  the  unfinished  portico 
of  the  Capitol,  and  from  this  Monroe  delivered  his 


THE    ELEPHANT  AND  H1S  KEEPERS 


HOT  REPUBUCANS  ON  THE  DEMOCRATIC  GRIDIROjf 


AND  ELECTIONS  189 

inaugural  address  to  the  largest  assemblage  that  had 
yet  been  gathered  there.  The  day  was  balmy  and 
beautiful.  The  National  Intelligencer  said  of  the 
assemblage: 

Such  a  concourse  was  never  before  seen  in  Wash- 
ington; the  number  of  persons  present  has  actually 
been  estimated  at  from  five  to  eight  thousand.  Yet 
notwithstanding  the  magnitude  of  the  assemblage, 
we  have  heard  of  no  accident. 

There  were  no  outdoor  exercises  at  Monroe's  sec- 
ond inauguration,  the  weather  being  stormy,  rain 
and  snow  falling  throughout  the  day.  The  attend- 
ance on  this  occasion  did  not  exceed  two  thousand 
persons.  John  Quincy  Adams  was  also  inaugurated 
indoors  four  years  later,  and  it  was  not  till  the  ad- 
vent of  General  Jackson,  in  1829,  that  the  outdoor 
exercises  became  the  established  custom. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

THE  JACKSON  INVASION 

JACKSON'S  entry  upon  the  presidency  has  been  lik- 
ened repeatedly  to  the  descent  of  the  barbarians 
upon  Rome.  It  was  accompanied  with  a  huge  mul- 
titude of  people  from  all  parts  of  the  land,  and 
by  an  amount  of  uproar  altogether  unprecedented. 
Webster  wrote  from  the  capital,  several  days  before 
the  inauguration,  that  the  city  was  full  of  specula- 
tion and  speculators,  there  being  a  great  multitude, 
too  many  to  be  fed  without  a  miracle,  and  all  hun- 
gry for  office.  "I  never  saw  such  a  crowd  before/' 
he  added.  "Persons  have  come  five  hundred  miles 
to  see  General  Jackson,  and  they  really  seem  to 
think  that  the  country  is  rescued  from  some  dreadful 
danger."  They  surged  through  the  streets  shouting, 
"  Hurrah  for  Jackson ! "  They  swarmed  about  Gads- 
by's  tavern,  where  the  general  lodged,  in  such  masses 
as  completely  to  hem  it  in  and  make  access  to  his 
presence  nearly  impossible.  A  contemporary  writer, 
Arthur  J.  Stansbury,  thus  described  the  situation: 

No  one  who  was  at  Washington  at  the  time  of 
General  Jackson's  inauguration  is  likely  to  forget 
that  period  to  the  day  of  his  death.  To  us,  who  had 
witnessed  the  quiet  and  orderly  period  of  the  Adams 

190 


PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS       191 

administration,  it  seemed  as  if  half  the  nation  had 
rushed  at  once  into  the  capital.  It  was  like  the  in- 
undation of  the  northern  barbarians  into  Rome, 
save  that  the  tumultuous  tide  came  in  from  a  differ- 
ent point  of  the  compass.  The  West  and  the  South 
seemed  to  have  precipitated  themselves  upon  the 
North  and  overwhelmed  it.  On  that  memorable 
occasion  you  might  tell  a  "Jackson  man"  almost  as 
far  as  you  could  see  him.  Their  every  motion 
seemed  to  cry  out  "Victory!"  Strange  faces  filled 
every  public  place,  and  every  face  seemed  to  bear 
defiance  on  its  brow.  It  appeared  to  me  that  every 
Jackson  editor  in  the  country  was  on  the  spot.  They 
swarmed  especially  in  the  lobbies  of  the  house,  an 
expectant  host,  a  sort  of  praetorian  band,  which, 
having  borne  in  upon  their  shields  their  idolized 
leader,  claimed  the  reward  of  the  hard-fought 
contest.  His  quarters  were  assailed,  surrounded, 
hemmed  in,  so  that  it  was  an  achievement  to  get 
into  his  presence. 

On  the  morning  of  the  inauguration,  the  vicinity 
of  the  Capitol  was  like  a  great,  agitated  sea;  every 
avenue  to  the  fateful  spot  was  blocked  up  with 
people,  insomuch  that  the  legitimate  procession 
which  accompanied  the  President-elect  could  scarce 
make  its  way  to  the  eastern  portico,  where  the 
ceremony  was  to  be  performed.  To  repress  the 
crowd  in  front,  a  ship's  cable  was  stretched  across 
about  two-thirds  of  the  way  up  the  long  flight  of 
steps  by  which  the  Capitol  is  approached  on  that 
side,  but  it  seemed  at  times  as  if  even  this  would 
scarce  prove  sufficient  to  restrain  the  eagerness  of 
the  multitude,  every  man  of  whom  seemed  bent  on 
the  glory  of  shaking  the  President's  hand.  Never 
can  I  forget  the  spectacle  which  presented  itself  on 


192      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

every  side,  nor  the  electrifying  moment  when  the 
eager,  expectant  eyes  of  that  vast  and  motley  multi- 
tude caught  sight  of  the  tall  and  imposing  form  of 
their  adored  leader,  as  he  came  forth  between  the 
columns  of  the  portico;  the  color  of  the  whole  mass 
changed  as  if  by  a  miracle;  all  hats  were  off  at  once, 
and  the  dark  tint  which  usually  pervades  a  mixed 
map  of  men  was  turned,  as  by  a  magic  wand,  into 
the  bright  hue  of  ten  thousand  upturned  and  exul- 
tant human  faces,  radiant  with  sudden  joy.  The 
peal  of  shouting  that  arose  rent  the  air,  and  seemed 
to  shake  the  very  ground.  But  when  the  chief  jus- 
tice took  his  place  and  commenced  the  brief  cere- 
mony of  administering  the  oath  of  office,  it  quickly 
sank  into  comparative  silence;  and  as  the  new  Presi- 
dent proceeded  to  read  his  inaugural  address,  the 
stillness  gradually  increased;  but  all  efforts  to  hear 
him,  beyond  the  brief  space  immediately  around, 
were  utterly  vain. 

An  eye-witness,  who  took  a  somewhat  jocose  view 
of  the  day's  events,  wrote  that  the  most  remarkable 
feature  about  Jackson  as  he  marched  down  the  aisle 
of  the  Senate  with  a  quick,  large  step,  as  though  he 
proposed  to  storm  the  Capitol,  was  his  double  pair 
of  spectacles.  He  habitually  wore  two  pairs,  one 
for  reading  and  the  other  for  seeing  at  a  distance, 
the  pair  not  in  use  being  placed  across  the  top  of 
his  head.  On  this  occasion,  says  the  eye-witness,  the 
pair  on  his  head  reflected  the  light;  and  some  of  the 
rural  admirers  of  the  old  hero  were  firmly  persuaded 
that  they  were  two  plates  of  metal  let  into  his  head 
to  close  up  holes  made  by  British  bullets. 


The  alarm. 

On  Thursday  night,  after  he  had  retired,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  aroused  and  informed 
that  a  stranger  desired  to  see  him  on  a  matter  of  life  and  death.  ...  A 
conversation  elicited  the  fact  that  an  organized  body  of  men  had  determined 
that  Mr.  Lincoln  should  never  leave  the  city  of  Baltimore  alive.  .  .  . 
Statesmen  laid  the  plan.  {Bankers  indorsed  it,  and  adventurers  were  to 
carry  it  into  effect." 


Reproduced  by  courtesy  of  Harper  &  Brothers. 

The  council. 

Mr.  Lincoln  did  not  want  to  yield,  and  his  friends  cried  with  indignation.  But 
they  insisted,  and  he  left." 

From  "Harper's  Weekly." 


AND  ELECTIONS  193 

The  ceremony  ended,  the  general  mounted  his 
horse  to  proceed  to  the  White  House,  and  the  whole 
crowd  followed  him.  "The  President,"  says  a  con- 
temporary writer,  uwas  literally  pursued  by  a  mot- 
ley concourse  of  people,  riding,  running  helter-skel- 
ter, striving  who  should  first  gain  admittance  into 
the  executive  mansion,  where  it  was  understood  that 
refreshments  were  to  be  distributed."  An  abun- 
dance of  refreshments  had  been  provided,  including 
many  barrels  of  orange  punch.  As  the  waiters 
opened  the  doors  to  bring  out  the  punch  in  pails, 
the  crowd  rushed  in  upon  them,  upsetting  the  pails 
and  breaking  the  glasses.  Inside  the  house  the 
crush  was  so  great  that  distribution  of  refreshments 
was  impossible,  and  tubs  of  orange  punch  were  set 
out  in  the  grounds  to  entice  people  from  the  rooms. 

Jackson  himself  was  so  pressed  against  the  wall  of 
the  reception-room  that  he  was  in  danger  of  injury, 
and  was  protected  by  a  number  of  men  linking  arms 
and  forming  a  barrier  against  the  crowd.  Men  with 
boots  heavy  with  mud  stood  on  the  satin-covered 
chairs  and  sofas  in  their  eagerness  to  get  a  view  of 
the  hero.  Judge  Story  wrote  that  the  crowd  con- 
tained all  sorts  of  people,  from  the  highest  and  most 
polished  down  to  the  most  vulgar  and  gross  in  the 
nation.  "I  never  saw  such  a  mixture,"  he  added. 
"The  reign  of  King  Mob  seemed  triumphant.  I 
was  glad  to  escape  from  the  scene  as  soon  as  possi- 
ble." 

Jackson's  second  inauguration  was  in  marked  con- 


194      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

trast  to  the  first.  In  accordance  with  an  unbroken 
line  of  precedents  since  Washington's  day,  these 
second-term  exercises  were  brief  and  simple.  They 
were  held  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  in  the 
presence  of  the  two  houses  of  Congress  and  the 
assembled  dignitaries  of  the  home  and  foreign  gov- 
ernments. Jackson's  personal  appearance  at  this 
time  is  graphically  described  by  Schouler,  in  his 
"History  of  the  United  States": 

His  modest  but  distinguished  mien  prepossessed 
all  hearts  in  his  favor.  Both  houses  of  Congress 
received  him  with  every  token  of  respect.  Among 
foreign  ministers,  resplendent  in  gold  lace,  and  offi- 
cers in  their  uniforms,  he  stood  contrasted  in  plain 
black  suit  with  not  a  single  decoration:  an  elderly 
man,  tall,  spare  and  bony,  and  by  no  means  robust 
in  aspect.  His  dark-blue  eyes  peered  out  searchingly 
from  beneath  heavy  eyebrows  and  a  wrinkled  fore- 
head, high  but  narrow;  his  firm-set  mouth  and  chin 
worked  almost  convulsively  with  the  play  of  his 
emotions.  His  thick  hair,  bristling  stiffly  up  in 
front,  was  by  this  time  perfectly  white,  and,  being 
brushed  upward  and  back  from  the  brow,  gave  to 
his  long  and  beardless  face  a  delicate  look,  almost 
womanly  in  repose,  which  could  not  be  forgotten. 
He  was  dressed  in  the  plain,  civilian  suit  of  the 
period,  with  watch  seal  dangling  from  the  fob,  a 
shirt  slightly  ruffled,  and  starched  collar  points 
standing  sentinel  on  the  chin,  which  rose  resolute 
from  the  constraint  of  a  stiff  black  stock. 


The  special  train. 

'He  wore  a  Scotch  plaid  cap  and  a  very  long  military  cloak,  so  that  he  was 
entirely  unrecognizable. 


Reproduced  by  courtesy  of  Harper  &  Brothers. 

The  old  complaint. 

'Mr.  Lincoln,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Seward,  paid  his  respects  to  President 
Buchanan,  spending  a  few  minutes  in  general  conversation. 

From  "  Harper's  Weekly." 


CHAPTER  XXV 
UNIQUE  DISTINCTION  OF  THE  ADAMSES 

NEITHER  of  the  two  Adamses  who  filled  the  presi- 
dency attended  the  inauguration  ceremonies  of  his 
successor.  No  other  President  that  the  country  has 
had,  with  the  exception  of  Andrew  Johnson,  has 
this  distinction,  and  there  were  special  reasons  in 
Johnson's  case.  Colonel  A.  K.  McClure  states  these 
as  follows: 

Grant  and  Johnson  had  an  acrimonious  dispute 
when  Grant,  as  secretary  of  war,  ad  interim,  ad- 
mitted Stanton  back  to  the  office  after  the  Senate 
had  refused  to  approve  his  removal  by  the  President, 
and  from  that  time  Grant  and  Johnson  never  met 
or  exchanged  courtesies  on  any  other  than  official 
occasions,  where  the  necessity  for  it  was  imperative. 
When  the  arrangements  were  about  to  be  made  for 
the  inauguration  of  Grant,  he  peremptorily  refused 
to  permit  President  Johnson  to  accompany  him  in 
the  carriage  to  the  Capitol  for  the  inauguration 
ceremonies,  and  Johnson  did  not  make  his  appear- 
ance on  that  occasion. 

No  excuse  or  defense  of  John  Adams's  conduct  in 
refusing  to  attend  the  inauguration  of  Jefferson  has 
been  advanced.  His  descendant,  Henry  Adams,  in 

195 


196      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

his  "History  of  the  United  States,"  makes  a  tenta- 
tive effort  to  excuse  him  by  saying: 

The  retiring  President  was  not  present  at  the  in- 
stallation of  his  successor.  In  Jefferson's  eyes  a 
revolution  had  taken  place  as  vast  as  that  of  1776; 
and  if  this  was  his  belief,  perhaps  the  late  President 
was  wise  to  retire  from  a  stage  where  everything 
was  arranged  to  point  a  censure  upon  his  principles, 
and  where  he  would  have  seemed,  in  his  successor's 
opinion,  as  little  in  place  as  George  III  would  have 
appeared  at  the  installation  of  President  Washington. 

One  biographer  of  Adams,  John  T.  Morse,  Jr., 
rejects  this  excuse  as  purposeless,  and  says: 

Adams  sat  signing  appointments  to  office  and  at- 
tending to  business  till  near  the  close  of  the  last 
hour  of  his  term.  Then,  before  the  people  were 
astir  on  the  morning  which  ushered  in  the  day  of 
Jefferson's  inauguration,  he  drove  out  of  Washing- 
ton. It  was  the  worst  possible  manifestation  of  all 
those  petty  faults  which  formed  such  vexatious 
blemishes  in  Adams's  singularly  compounded  char- 
acter. He  was  crushed  beneath  an  intense  disap- 
pointment which  he  did  not  deserve;  he  was  humili- 
ated by  an  unpopularity  which  he  did  not  merit. 

There  is  no  allusion  to  the  matter  in  the  letters 
of  Adams  to  his  wife.  The  series  of  published  let- 
ters to  her  from  him  closes  with  February  16,  1801, 
and  in  the  final  letter  he  says: 

The  election  will  be  decided  this  day  in  favor  of 
Mr.  Jefferson,  as  it  is  given  out  by  good  authority. 


AND  ELECTIONS  197 

The  burden  upon  me  in  nominating  judges  and  con- 
suls and  other  officers,  in  delivering  over  the  furni- 
ture, in  the  ordinary  business  at  the  close  of  a 
session,  and  in  preparing  for  my  journey  of  five 
hundred  miles  through  the  mire,  is  and  will  be 
very  heavy.  My  time  will  all  be  taken  up. 

In  the  case  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  there  was 
much  more  excuse.  The  main  reason  for  his  ab- 
sence from  Jackson's  inauguration  was  stated  tersely 
in  Niks' s  Register  of  March  27, 1829: 

It  is  proper  to  mention,  for  the  preservation  of 
facts,  that  General  Jackson  did  not  call  upon  Presi- 
dent Adams,  and  that  Mr.  Adams  gave  not  his 
attendance  at  the  installation  of  President  Jackson. 

This  conduct  must  have  been  a  cause  of  grief  to 
the  editor  of  the  National  Intelligencer,  for  four  years 
earlier  he  had  written,  when  describing  the  scene 
which  followed  the  inauguration  of  Adams: 

General  Jackson,  we  are  pleased  to  observe,  was 
among  the  earliest  of  those  who  took  the  hand  of 
the  President;  and  their  looks  and  deportment 
toward  each  other  were  a  rebuke  to  the  littleness  of 
party  spirit  which  can  see  no  merit  in  a  rival  and  feel 
no  joy  in  the  honor  of  a  competitor. 

Adams  himself  wrote  quite  fully  on  the  subject  in 
his  diary.  I  condense  somewhat  an  entry  of  Febru- 
ary 28,  1829: 

On  the  llth  day  of  this  month  Andrew  Jackson, 
of  Tennessee,  was  declared  elected  President.  On 
the  same  day  the  President-elect  arrived  in  this  city 


198      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

and  took  lodgings  at  Gadsby's  Hotel.  He  has  not 
thought  proper  to  hold  any  personal  communication 
with  me  since  his  arrival.  I  sent  him  word  by 
Marshal  Ringgold  that  I  should  remove  with  my 
family  from  the  house,  so  that  he  may,  if  he  thinks 
proper,  receive  his  visits  of  congratulation  here  on 
the  4th  of  March.  He  desired  Ringgold  to  thank 
me  for  this  information;  spoke  uncertainly  whether 
he  would  come  into  the  house  on  the  4th  or  not, 
but  said  if  it  would  be  in  any  manner  inconvenient 
to  my  family  to  remove,  he  wished  us  not  to  hurry 
ourselves  at  all,  but  to  stay  in  the  house  as  long  as 
it  should  suit  our  convenience,  were  it  even  a  month. 
His  avoidance  of  me  has  been  noticed  in  the  news- 
papers. The  Telegraph  newspaper  has  assigned  for 
the  reason  of  this  incivility  that  he  knows  I  have 
been  personally  concerned  in  the  publications  against 
his  wife  in  the  National  Journal.  This  is  not  true. 
I  have  not  been  privy  to  any  publication  in  any 
newspaper  against  either  himself  or  his  wife.  Within 
a  few  days  another  reason  has  been  assigned.  Mr. 
David  Hoffman,  of  Baltimore,  urged  me  to  attend 
the  inauguration  and  said  in  that  event  he  was  in- 
formed it  was  General  Jackson's  intention  to  pay 
me  a  visit,  his  reason  for  not  having  done  it  before 
having  been  the  chance  there  might  have  been  of 
his  meeting  Mr.  Clay  with  me.  Mr.  Ringgold  says 
Mr.  McLean,  the  postmaster-general,  told  him  that 
he  had  conversed  with  the  general  upon  his  abstain- 
ing from  visiting  me,  and  that  the  general  had  told 
him  he  came  here  with  the  intention  of  calling  upon 
me,  but  had  been  dissuaded  from  it  by  his  friends. 

Under  the  date  of  March  3  occurs  this  entry: 
"About  nine  in  the  evening  I  left  the  President's 


AND  ELECTIONS  199 

house,  and  with  my  son  John  and  T.  B.  Adams,  Jr., 
came  out  and  joined  my  family  at  Meriden  Hill." 
On  the  following  day,  that  of  the  inauguration,  there 
is  the  following: 

This  day  Andrew  Jackson,  of  Tennessee,  was  in- 
augurated as  President  of  the  United  States.  I  had 
caused  a  notification  to  be  published  in  the  National 
Intelligencer  and  Journal,  requesting  the  citizens  of 
the  district  and  others,  my  friends,  who  might  be 
disposed  to  visit  me,  according  to  the  usage  hereto- 
fore, to  dispense  with  that  formality.  Very  few, 
therefore,  came  out.  .  .  .  The  day  was  warm  and 
spring-like,  and  I  rode  on  my  horse,  with  Watkins, 
into  the  city  and  thence  through  F  Street  to  the 
Rockville  Turnpike,  and  over  that  till  I  came  to  the 
turn  of  the  road,  by  which  I  returned  over  College 
Hill  back  to  the  house. 

General  Jackson  was  very  much  in  evidence  at 
the  inauguration  of  his  successor,  Mr.  Van  Buren. 
The  two  rode  side  by  side  from  the  White  House 
to  the  Capitol,  and  back  again,  after  the  ceremonies, 
in  a  carriage  made  of  wood  from  the  frigate  Consti- 
tution, presented  by  the  Democrats  of  New  York. 
But  the  general  was  at  all  moments  the  central 
figure;  the  crowd  along  the  route  and  at  the  Capitol 
paid  only  slight  attention  to  the  new  President. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

"TIPPECANOE"  AND  OTHER  INAUGURATIONS 

OF  the  inauguration  of  General  William  Henry  Har- 
rison, in  1841,  John  Quincy  Adams  says  in  his  diary 
that  it  was  celebrated  with  demonstrations  of  popu- 
lar feeling  unexampled  since  that  of  Washington  in 
1789.  It  had  more  of  a  left-over  campaign  flavor 
than  any  other  inauguration  either  before  or  since. 
The  great  "Tippecanoe"  canvass,  with  its  log  cabins 
and  hard  cider,  its  enormous  processions,  its  bound- 
less enthusiasm  and  incessant  uproar,  got  under 
such  headway  that  it  could  not  be  stopped  with 
election  day.  Enough  of  it  was  still  in  motion  in 
March  to  make  the  inauguration  of  the  general  a 
virtual  continuation  of  it,  so  far  as  the  procession 
was  concerned.  The  log  cabins  were  brought  to 
the  capital  for  the  occasion,  and  many  of  the  clubs 
came  with  their  regalia  and  banners.  A  magnificent 
carriage  had  been  constructed  by  his  admirers,  and 
presented  to  General  Harrison,  with  the  expressed 
wish  that  he  ride  in  it  to  the  Capitol;  but  he  de- 
clined to  do  so,  insisting  upon  riding  a  horse  in- 
stead. The  crowd  of  visitors  along  the  avenue  from 
the  White  House  to  the  Capitol  was  the  largest  yet 

seen  in  Washington.    The  procession  created  such 

200 


PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS       201 

enthusiasm  that  the  novel  expedient  was  adopted  of 
having  it  march  and  countermarch  several  times 
before  leaving  its  hero  at  the  Capitol.  For  two  hours 
it  went  to  and  fro  in  the  avenue  before  the  spectators 
were  supposed  to  have  their  fill  of  it.  Mr.  Adams, 
who  saw  it  from  his  window,  under  which  it  passed, 
describes  it  in  his  diary  as  a  mixed  military  and  civil 
cavalcade  with  platoons  of  militia  companies,  Tip- 
pecanoe  clubs,  students  of  colleges,  schoolboys,  a 
half  dozen  veterans  who  had  fought  under  the  old 
hero  in  the  War  of  1812,  sundry  awkward  and  un- 
gainly painted  banners  and  log  cabins,  and  without 
carriages  or  showy  dresses.  The  coup  d'ceil,  he  adds, 
was  showy-shabby;  and  he  says  of  the  general:  "He 
was  on  a  mean-looking  white  horse,  in  the  centre  of 
seven  others,  in  a  plain  frock  coat,  or  surtout,  un- 
distinguishable  from  any  of  those  before,  behind,  or 
around  him." 

The  day  was  cold  and  bleak,  with  a  chilly  wind 
blowing.  General  Harrison  stood  for  an  hour  ex- 
posed to  this  while  delivering  his  address,  and  at  its 
close  mounted  his  horse  and  returned  to  the  White 
House  with  the  procession  again  as  an  escort. 

The  crowds  at  Folk's  inauguration  were  said  to 
be  the  largest  yet  seen  at  the  Capitol,  which  was 
undoubtedly  true;  for  as  the  country  has  advanced 
in  size,  the  number  of  people  going  to  Washington 
to  witness  the  advent  of  every  new  President  has 
steadily  increased.  Evidences  that  the  outdoor  cus- 
tom had  become  firmlv  established  in  Folk's  time  is 


202      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

furnished  by  the  fact  that,  although  rain  fell  steadily 
throughout  the  day,  he  delivered  his  address  from 
the  portico  to  a  wide,  moving  sea  of  umbrellas,  with 
no  protection  save  an  umbrella  which  was  held  over 
his  head.  The  crowds  amused  themselves  during 
the  progress  of  the  procession  along  Pennsylvania 
Avenue  by  repeating  the  favorite  cry  of  the  oppo- 
sition in  the  preceding  campaign,  "Who  is  James 
K.  Polk?"  Roars  of  laughter  always  followed  this 
somewhat  worn,  but  always  amusing,  query.  An 
interesting  contemporary  note  of  this  inauguration 
is  the  following: 

Professor  Morse  brought  out  his  magnetic  tele- 
graph to  the  portico  platform,  close  to  one  side  of  it, 
from  which  point  he  could  hear  everything  that 
went  on,  having  under  view  all  the  ceremonies  per- 
formed, transmitting  the  results  to  Baltimore  as  fast 
as  they  transpired. 

John  Quincy  Adams,  in  a  very  characteristic  pas- 
sage in  his  diary,  says  of  this  inauguration  under 
date  of  March  4,  1845: 

There  was  an  unusual  degree  of  pomposity  paraded 
in  the  inauguration  of  James  K.  Polk  as  President 
of  the  United  States  by  the  Democracy;  but  I  wit- 
nessed nothing  of  it.  A  committee  of  arrangements 
for  the  reception  and  inauguration  of  the  President- 
elect had  been  appointed  by  the  Senate — all  rank 
Democrats — who,  in  a  very  polite  note,  enclosed  to 
me  three  printed  copies  of  the  arrangement,  with  a 
notification  that  a  position  had  been  assigned  to  the 


AND  ELECTIONS  203 

ex-Presidents,  which  the  committee  would  be  happy 
to  have  me  occupy.  I  did  not  avail  myself  of  the 
invitation.  There  was  a  procession  of  ten  or  eleven 
military  companies,  who  escorted  Mr.  Polk  and  Mr. 
Tyler,  who  rode  together  in  an  open  carriage,  from 
Coleman's  National  Hotel  to  the  Capitol.  They 
first  assembled  in  the  Senate-chamber,  whence  they 
proceeded  to  a  platform  protruding  from  the  portico. 
There  Mr.  Polk  delivered  his  inaugural  address,  half 
an  hour  long,  to  a  large  assemblage  of  umbrellas,  for 
it  was  raining  hard  all  the  time.  The  official  oath 
was  then  administered  to  him  by  Chief  Justice  Taney 
and  the  draggletail  procession,  thinned  in  numbers, 
escorted  him  back  to  the  President's  house. 

At  night  there  were  two  balls:  one  at  Carusi's 
Hall,  at  ten  dollars  a  ticket,  of  all  parties;  the  other, 
of  pure  Democrats,  at  five  dollars  a  ticket,  at  the 
National  Theatre.  Mr.  Polk  attended  both,  but 
supped  with  the  true-blue  five-dollar  Democracy. 
My  family  and  myself  received  invitations  to  both, 
but  attended  neither. 

There  was  little  that  varied  the  now  well-estab- 
lished monotony  of  inauguration  ceremonies  when 
Franklin  Pierce  came  in,  in  1853,  and  James  Bu- 
chanan in  1857.  Pierce  was  one  of  the  most  buoy- 
antly self-poised  men  who  ever  entered  upon  the 
presidency.  He  made  the  journey  from  the  White 
House  to  the  Capitol  standing  erect  in  the  carriage 
beside  President  Fillmore,  and  bowing  constantly 
to  the  cheers  with  which  he  was  greeted.  At  the 
Capitol  he  distinguished  himself  by  being  the  first 
President  to  deliver  his  address  without  notes,  speak- 


204       PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

ing  in  a  remarkably  clear  voice,  and  arousing  great 
enthusiasm  by  his  handsome  appearance,  dignified 
bearing,  and  somewhat  unusual  oratorical  powers. 
The  inauguration  ball  dates  from  the  very  begin- 
ning. There  was  a  ball  when  Washington  was  in- 
augurated in  New  York,  but,  owing  to  the  pressure 
of  other  demands  upon  his  time,  it  did  not  take 
place  till  the  evening  of  May  7.  Washington  at- 
tended, and  performed  a  minuet  with  Miss  Van 
Zandt,  and  danced  cotillons  with  Mrs.  Peter  Van 
Brugh  Livingston,  Mrs.  Maxwell,  and  others.  There 
was  no  ball  at  his  second  inauguration  because  of 
its  extremely  quiet  character,  and  there  was  none 
when  Mr.  Adams  came  in  because  of  the  general 
grief  over  Washington's  departure.  I  can  find  no 
mention  of  a  ball  when  Jefferson  was  inaugurated, 
but  there  was  one  when  Madison  came  in,  and  since 
then  there  has  been  no  break  in  the  custom.  There 
were,  as  Mr.  Adams  records  in  the  entry  quoted 
above,  two  when  Polk  was  inaugurated,  and  two 
when  Taylor  succeeded  him — an  administration  and 
an  opposition  ball  on  each  occasion,  both  very  well 
attended.  The  crush  was  so  great  at  the  Taylor 
administration  ball  that  many  persons  narrowly 
escaped  injury,  and  there  were  loud  complaints  be- 
cause of  the  inadequate  supply  of  refreshments. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

LINCOLN'S  FIRST  INAUGURATION 

FOR  six  weeks  or  more  previous  to  Lincoln's  depar- 
ture from  Springfield  on  February  11,  1861,  to  take 
the  oath  of  office  as  President,  the  newspapers  of 
the  country  had  been  filled  with  threats  of  secession, 
rumors  of  revolutions,  stories  of  plots  to  seize  Wash- 
ington and  burn  the  public  buildings,  and  to  pre- 
vent the  counting  of  the  electoral  votes  and  the 
inauguration  of  the  new  President.  The  journey 
was  begun  amid  wide-spread  popular  uneasiness 
about  the  personal  safety  of  Lincoln.  Whether  he 
himself  shared  it  or  not  is  only  a  matter  of  con- 
jecture. Herndon  records  that  he  was  "filled  with 
gloomy  forebodings  of  the  future"  as  he  was  taking 
leave  of  his  family  and  friends,  that  he  said  to  him 
that  the  "sorrow  of  parting  from  his  old  associates 
was  deeper  than  most  persons  would  imagine,  but 
it  was  more  marked  in  his  case  because  of  the  feeling 
which  had  become  irrepressible  that  he  would  never 
return  alive. "  This  does  not  imply  that  he  antici- 
pated immediate  danger.  In  describing  his  depar- 
ture and  the  circumstances  attending  his  farewell 
speech,  Hay  and  Nicolay  write:  "As  the  conductor 
paused  with  his  hand  lifted  to  the  bell-rope,  Mr. 

205 


206      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

Lincoln  appeared  on  the  platform  of  the  car,  and 
raised  his  hand  to  command  attention.  The  by- 
standers bared  their  heads  to  the  falling  snowflakes, 
and,  standing  thus,  his  neighbors  heard  his  voice  for 
the  last  time,  in  the  city  of  his  home,  in  a  farewell 
address  so  chaste  and  pathetic  that  it  reads  as  if  he 
already  felt  the  tragic  shadow  of  forecasting  fate." 

My  Friends:  No  one,  not  in  my  situation,  can 
appreciate  my  feeling  of  sadness  at  this  parting.  To 
this  place,  and  the  kindness  of  these  people,  I  owe 
everything.  Here  I  have  lived  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury, and  have  passed  from  a  young  to  an  old  man. 
Here  my  children  have  been  born,  and  one  is  buried. 
I  now  leave,'  not  knowing  when  or  whether  ever  I 
may  return,  with  a  task  before  me  greater  than 
that  which  rested  upon  Washington.  Without  the 
assistance  of  that  Divine  Being  who  ever  attended 
him,  I  cannot  succeed.  With  that  assistance,  I  can- 
not fail.  Trusting  in  him  who  can  go  with  me,  and 
remain  with  you,  and  be  everywhere  for  good,  let 
us  confidently  hope  that  all  will  yet  be  well.  To 
his  care  commending  you,  as  I  hope  in  your  prayers 
you  will  commend  me,  I  bid  you  an  affectionate 
farewell. 

No  one  can  read  that  without  recalling  involun- 
tarily the  farewell  speech  of  Washington  at  Alex- 
andria, quoted  earlier  in  these  pages.  It  has  the 
same  pathetic  note  of  affection  and  sadness  and 
humility.  It  is  not  my  purpose  to  describe  here  the 
journey  to  Washington,  with  its  secret  midnight 
trip  through  Baltimore.  That  is  set  forth  in  detail 


8  & 
^  .2 
§  w 


AND  ELECTIONS  207 

by  his  biographers.  The  fear  of  personal  assault 
upon  him  remained  after  his  arrival  in  Washington 
and  hung  like  a  sombre,  intangible  cloud  over  the 
inauguration  ceremonies.  Great  precautions,  under 
the  personal  direction  of  General  Scott,  had  been 
taken  to  guard  the  line  of  procession  from  Mr. 
Lincoln's  hotel  to  the  Capitol.  He  was  surrounded 
by  military  guards,  and  riflemen  in  squads  were 
placed  on  the  roofs  of  houses  along  Pennsylvania 
Avenue,  with  orders  to  watch  the  windows  on  the 
opposite  side  and  to  fire  upon  them  in  case  any 
attempt  should  be  made  to  fire  from  them  on  the 
presidential  carriage.  Troops  were  also  stationed 
upon  the  steps  of  the  Capitol  and  in  the  windows 
of  the  wings.  On  the  brow  of  the  hill,  not  far  from 
the  north  entrance  to  the  Capitol,  commanding  both 
the  approach  and  the  broad  platform  of  the  east 
front,  was  stationed  a  battery  of  flying  artillery,  in 
the  immediate  vicinity  of  which  General  Scott  re- 
mained, a  careful  observer  during  the  entire  cere- 
monies, ready  to  take  personal  command  should  it 
be  necessary. 

Arriving  at  the  Capitol,  Mr.  Lincoln  and  his  com- 
panions passed  to  the  Senate-chamber.  A  con- 
temporary observer  who  saw  the  outgoing  and  the 
incoming  Presidents  enter  arm  in  arm  wrote:  "Bu- 
chanan was  pale,  sad,  nervous;  Lincoln's  face  was 
slightly  flushed,  his  lips  compressed.  For  a  few 
minutes  they  sat  in  front  of  the  President's  desk. 
Mr.  Buchanan  sighed  audibly  and  frequently.  Mr. 


20S       PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

Lincoln  was  grave  and  impassive  as  an  Indian  mar- 
tyr." When  they  passed  from  the  Senate-chamber 
and  emerged  upon  the  platform  erected  on  the  east 
portico,  the  new  President  formed  one  of  a  remark- 
able group.  Chief  Justice  Taney,  author  of  the 
Dred  Scott  decision,  stood  ready  to  administer  to 
him  the  oath  of  office.  Near  by  was  Senator  Ste- 
phen A.  Douglas,  Lincoln's  lifelong  political  oppo- 
nent and  a  defeated  candidate  for  the  presidency. 
With  them  was,  of  course,  the  retiring  President. 
When  Lincoln  arose  to  deliver  his  address,  he  found 
himself  incumbered  with  a  high  silk  hat,  a  cane, 
and  a  roll  of  manuscript.  He  hesitated  for  a  mo- 
ment, looking  for  some  place  upon  which  to  deposit 
his  hat,  when  Mr.  Douglas  stepped  forward  and 
took  it  from  him,  saying  in  a  whisper  to  a  friend  as 
he  passed  back  to  his  seat:  "If  I  can't  be  President, 
I  at  least  can  hold  his  hat."  The  attendance  was 
enormous,  and  as  Lincoln  began  his  address  he  saw 
before  him  the  largest  throng  that  had  ever  gathered 
to  greet  a  new  President,  though  larger  ones  have 
assembled  to  greet  his  successors.  Horace  Greeley, 
who  was  on  the  platform,  wrote  in  his  "Recollections 
of  a  Busy  Life": 

Mr.  Lincoln  entered  Washington  the  victim  of  a 
grave  delusion.  A  genial,  quiet,  essentially  peace- 
ful man,  trained  in  the  ways  of  the  bar  and  the 
stump,  he  fully  believed  that  there  would  be  no 
civil  war — no  serious  effort  to  consummate  disunion. 
His  faith  in  reason  as  a  moral  force  was  so  implicit 


AND  ELECTIONS  209 

that  he  did  not  cherish  a  doubt  that  his  inaugural 
address,  whereon  he  had  bestowed  much  thought 
and  labor,  would,  when  read  throughout  the  South, 
dissolve  the  Confederacy  as  frost  is  dissipated  by  a 
vernal  sun.  I  sat  just  behind  him  as  he  read  it,  on 
a  bright,  warm,  still,  March  day,  expecting  to  hear 
its  delivery  arrested  by  the  crack  of  a  rifle  aimed  at 
his  heart;  but  it  pleased  God  to  postpone  the  deed, 
though  there  was  forty  times  the  reason  for  shooting 
him  in  1861  that  there  was  in  '65,  and  at  least  forty 
times  as  many  intent  on  killing  or  having  him  killed. 
Xo  shot  was  then  fired,  however;  for  his  hour  had 
not  yet  come. 

Mr.  Greeley  also  relates  this  story,  which  may 
be  taken  as  an  authentic  reflection  of  Lincoln's 
mind  as  he  stood  at  the  threshold  of  the  presidency: 

Almost  every  one  has  personal  anecdotes  of  "Old 
Abe."  I  knew  him  more  than  sixteen  years,  met 
him  often,  talked  with  him  familiarly;  yet,  while 
multitudes  fancy  that  he  was  always  overflowing 
with  jocular  narrations  or  reminiscences,  I  cannot 
remember  that  I  ever  heard  him  tell  an  anecdote  or 
story.  One,  however,  that  he  did  tell  while  in  this 
city,  on  his  way  to  assume  the  presidency,  is  so 
characteristic  of  the  man  and  his  way  of  regarding 
portents  of  trouble,  that  I  here  record  it. 

Almost  every  one  was  asking  him,  with  evident 
apprehension,  if  not  perturbation :  "What  is  to  be 
the  issue  of  this  Southern  effervescence?  Are  we 
really  to  have  civil  war?"  and  he  once  responded  in 
substance  as  follows: 

"Many  years  ago,  wnen  I' was  a  young  lawyer 


210      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

and  Illinois  was  little  settled,  except  on  her  southern 
border,  I,  with  other  lawyers,  used  to  ride  the  cir- 
cuit, journeying  with  the  judge  from  county-seat 
to  county-seat  in  quest  of  business.  Once,  after  a 
long  spell  of  pouring  rain,  which  had  flooded  the 
whole  country,  transforming  small  creeks  into  rivers, 
we  were  often  stopped  by  these  swollen  streams, 
which  we  with  difficulty  crossed.  Still  ahead  of  us 
was  Fox  River,  larger  than  all  the  rest;  and  wre  could 
not  help  saying  to  each  other:  'If  these  streams 
give  us  so  much  trouble,  how  shall  we  get  over  Fox 
River?7  Darkness  fell  before  we  had  reached  that 
stream,  and  we  all  stopped  at  a  log  tavern,  had  our 
horses  put  out,  and  resolved  to  pass  the  night.  Here 
we  were  right  glad  to  fall  in  with  the  Methodist  pre- 
siding elder  of  the  circuit,  who  rode  it  in  all  weather, 
knew  all  its  ways,  and  could  tell  us  all  about  Fox 
River.  So  we  all  gathered  around  him,  and  asked 
him  if  he  knew  about  the  crossing  of  Fox  River. 
'Oh,  yes/  he  replied,  'I  know  all  about  Fox  River. 
I  have  crossed  it  often,  and  understand  it  well;  but 
I  have  one  fixed  rule  with  regard  to  Fox  River:  I 
never  cross  it  till  I  reach  it. ' " 

The  weather  on  the  day  of  Lincoln's  second  in- 
auguration was  gloomy  with  a  drizzling  rain.  After 
the  usual  exercises  in  the  Senate-chamber,  those  on 
the  platform  on  the  east  front  of  the  Capitol  began. 
Noah  Brooks  thus  describes  the  scene: 

Abraham  Lincoln,  rising  tall  and  gaunt  among 
the  groups  about  him,  stepped  forward  and  read 
his  inaugural  address,  which  was  printed  in  two 
broad  columns  upon  a  single  page  of  large  paper. 


AND  ELECTIONS  211 

As  he  advanced  from  his  seat,  a  roar  of  applause 
shook  the  air,  and,  again  and  again  repeated,  died 
far  away  on  the  outer  fringe  of  the  throng,  like  a 
sweeping  wave  upon  the  shore.  Just  at  that  mo- 
ment the  sun,  which  had  been  obscured  all  day, 
burst  forth  in  its  unclouded  meridian  splendor,  and 
flooded  the  spectacle  with  glory  and  with  light. 
The  inaugural  address  was  received  in  most  pro- 
found silence.  Every  word  was  clear  and  audible 
as  the  ringing  and  somewhat  shrill  tones  of  Lincoln's 
voice  sounded  over  the  vast  concourse.  Looking 
down  into  the  faces  of  the  people,  illuminated  by 
the  bright  rays  of  the  sun,  one  could  see  moist  eyes 
and  even  tearful  cheeks,  as  the  good  President  pro- 
nounced these  noble  words:  "With  malice  toward 
none,  with  charity  for  all,  with  firmness  in  the  right 
as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right,  let  us  strive  on  to 
finish  the  work  we  are  in;  to  bind  up  the  nation's 
wounds;  to  care  for  him  who  shall  have  borne  the 
battle,  and  for  his  widow  and  his  orphans;  to  do  all 
which  may  achieve  a  lasting  peace  among  ourselves 
and  with  all  nations."  Chiefly  memorable  in  the 
mind  of  those  who  saw  that  second  inauguration 
must  still  remain  the  tall,  pathetic,  melancholy 
figure  of  the  man  who,  then  inducted  into  office  in 
the  midst  of  the  glad  acclaim  of  thousands  of  people, 
and  illumined  by  the  deceptive  brilliance  of  a  March 
sunburst,  was  already  standing  in  the  shadow  of 
death. 


This  inauguration  was  the  first  re-election  cere- 
mony of  the  kind  since  Jackson's  time,  for  after  him 
no  President  till  Lincoln  had  been  elected  to  a 
second  term.  The  principal  novelty  of  the  inaug- 


212      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

uration  parade  was  the  presence  in  it  for  the  first 
time  of  representatives  of  the  freed  colored  race. 
A  battalion  of  negro  soldiers  formed  a  part  of  the 
military  escort  and  there  were  civic  associations  of 
negro  citizens  in  the  procession.  The  bronze  statue 
of  Freedom  had  recently  been  placed  upon  the  dome 
of  the  Capitol,  and  "her  guardianship,"  says  the 
Hay  and  Nicolay  biography,  "was  justified  by  the 
fact  that  the  thirteenth  amendment  virtually  blotted 
slavery  from  the  Constitution." 

Since  Lincoln's  time  each  succeeding  inauguration 
of  a  new  President  has  been  celebrated  in  much  the 
same  way,  with  a  steadily  increasing  multitude  of 
spectators,  and  a  swelling  measure  of  pomp  and 
pageantry.  In  outward  appearance  there  has  been 
much  similarity  in  these  recurring  quadrennial  dem- 
onstrations; but  each  has  had  a  distinct  individuality 
shaped  by  the  personality  of  its  central  figure  and 
by  the  forces  which  prevailed  in  the  election. 

At  both  inaugurations  of  General  Grant  the 
crowds  were  enormous;  but  those  which  have  gath- 
ered every  four  years  since  have  shown  no  diminu- 
tion from  the  standard  of  bigness  then  fixed.  That 
standard,  which  stood  at  from  five  to  eight  thousand 
in  the  early  years  of  the  last  century,  has  passed 
100,000.  At  McKinley's  second  inauguration  there 
was  a  military  and  civic  parade  in  which  30,000  men 
were  in  line,  while  the  number  of  spectators  who 
thronged  the  entire  length  of  Pennsylvania  Avenue 
and  packed  every  inch  of  available  space  in  front 


i  photograph  copyright  by  Underwood  &  Underwood. 


President  Wilson  taking  the  oath  of  office,  1913. 


AND  ELECTIONS  213 

of  the  inauguration  platform,  though  a  heavy  rain 
was  falling,  defied  computation. 

In  1905,  when  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  inaugurated, 
having  been  elected  President  after  serving  three 
years  in  that  office  because  of  the  death  of  President 
McKinley,  it  was  estimated  that  fully  500,000 
people  were  in  attendance.  The  weather  was  ex- 
ceptionally fine  for  the  season,  and  the  civic  and 
military  parade,  which  was  three  and  a  half  hours 
in  passing  the  reviewing  stand,  numbered  35,000 
men.  In  1909,  when  Mr.  Taft  was  inaugurated,  a 
fierce  storm  of  wind  and  sleet  made  outdoor  exer- 
cises at  the  Capitol  impossible,  and  the  new  Presi- 
dent was  inaugurated  in  the  Senate-chamber,  the 
exercises  being  held  there  for  the  first  time  in  more 
than  seventy  years.  A  new  departure  was  made 
by  the  retiring  President,  Roosevelt,  in  the  estab- 
lished order  of  ceremonies.  It  had  been  the  custom 
for  many  years  for  the  retiring  President  to  ride 
back  to  the  White  House  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
exercises  at  the  Capitol  in  the  carriage  with  the  new 
President.  Mr.  Roosevelt,  believing  that  the  new 
President  should  hold  the  undivided  centre  of  the 
scene,  went  from  the  Capitol  direct  to  the  railway 
station,  where  he  took  the  train  for  New  York.  As 
a  consequence,  Mrs.  Taft  rode  with  her  husband  to 
the  White  House,  being  the  first  and  only  wife  of  a 
President  to  do  this,  for  four  years  later,  at  President 
Wilson's  wish,  Mr.  Taft  rode  back  to  the  White 
House  with  him. 


214      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

At  the  inauguration  in  1913,  the  attendance,  as 
well  as  the  parade,  exceeded  all  records.  There  were 
40,000  in  the  parade,  which  was  four  hours  in  pass- 
ing the  reviewing  stand.  For  the  first  time  since 
the  inauguration  of  Madison  in  1808  there  was  no 
inauguration  ball,  it  having  been  abandoned  at  the 
personal  suggestion  of  President  Wilson. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

RESULTS  OF  NATIONAL  ELECTIONS 


PRESIDENT  AND  VICE-PRESIDENT  CHOSEN  BY 
ELECTORS  APPOINTED  BY  CAUCUS 

FIRST  ELECTION,  FEBRUARY  4,  1789 
Number  of  States,  13  Electoral  Votes,  91 

George  Washington,  Va 69      George  Clinton,  N.  Y 3 

John  Adams,  Mass 34      John  Milton,  Ga 2 

John  Jay,  N.Y 9  Samuel  Huntington,  Conn. .  2 

Robert  H.  Harrison,  Md 6      James  Armstrong,  Ga 1 

John  Rutledge,  S.  C 6      Edward  Telfair,  Ga 1 

John  Hancock,  Mass 4      Benj.  Lin  coin,  Mass 1 

George  Washington  was  declared  elected  President  and  John 
Adams  Vice-President,  on  February  4,  1789. 

SECOND  ELECTION,  1793 
Number  of  States,  15  Electoral  Votes,  132 

George  Washington,  Va.,Fed.l32      Thomas  Jefferson,  Va.,  Rep.      4 

John  Adams,  Mass.,  Fed. ...  77      Aaron  Burr,  N.  Y.,  Rep 1 

George  Clinton,  N.  Y.,  Rep . .  50 

Washington  and  Adams  were  declared  re-elected  President  and 
Vice-President,  on  February  20. 

THIRD  ELECTION,  FEBRUARY,  1797 
Number  of  States,  16  Electoral  Votes,  138 

John  Adams,  Mass.,  Fed 71  John  Jay,  N.  Y.,  Fed 5 

Thomas  Jefferson,  Va.,  Rep . .   68  James  Iredell,  N.  C.,  Fed. ...  3 

Thomas  Pinckney,  S.  C.,  Fed.  59  George  Washington,Va.,Fed.  2 

Aaron  Burr,  N.  Y.,  Rep 30  Samuel  Johnson,  N.  C.,  Fed.  2 

Samuel  Adams,  Mass.,  Rep..   15  John  Henry,  Md.,  Fed 2 

Oliver  Ellsworth,  Conn.,  Ind .   11  Charles  C.  Pinckney,  S.  C . . .  1 
George  Clinton,  N.  Y.,  Rep .  .     7 

John  Adams  was  declared  elected  President  and  Thomas  Jefferson 
Vice-President. 

215 


216      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

FOURTH  ELECTION,  FEBRUARY,  1800 
Number  of  States,  16  Electoral  Votes,  138 

Thomas  Jefferson,  Va.,  Rep..  73      C.  C.  Pinckney,  S.  C.,  Fed.. .  64 

Aaron  Burr,  N.  Y.,  Rep 73      John  Jay,  N.  Y.,  Fed 1 

John  Adams,  Mass.,  Fed. ...  65 

Jefferson  was  elected  President  and  Burr  Vice-President  by  the 
House  of  Representatives. 

FIFTH  ELECTION,  1804 
Number  of  States,  17  Electoral  Votes,  176 

PRESIDENT  VICE-PRESIDENT 

Thomas  Jefferson,  Va.,  Rep. .  162      George  Clinton,  N.  Y.,  Rep. .  162 
Chas.  C.  Pinckney,  S.  C.,  Fed.  14      Rufus  King,  N.  Y.,  Fed 14 

Thomas  Jefferson  and  George  Clinton  were  declared  elected  Presi- 
dent and  Vice-President.  In  this  election  candidates  for  Vice-Presi- 
dent were  voted  for  directly  for  the  first  time. 

SIXTH  ELECTION,  1808 
Number  of  States,  17  Electoral  Votes,  176 

PRESIDENT  VICE-PRESIDENT 

James  Madison,  Va.,  Rep 122      George  Clinton,  N.  Y.,  Rep. .  113 

Charles  Pinckney,  S.  C.,  Fed.  47      Rufus  King,  N.  Y.,  Fed. ...  47 
George  Clinton,  N.  Y.,  Rep . .     6      James  Madison,  Va.,  Rep ...     3 

John  Langdon,  N.  H.,  Rep . .     9 
James  Monroe,  Va.,  Rep. ...     3 

James  Madison  and  George  Clinton  were  declared  elected  Presi- 
dent and  Vice-President. 


SEVENTH  ELECTION,  1812 
Number  of  States,  18  Electoral  Votes,  217 

PRESIDENT  VICE-PRESIDENT 

James  Madison,  Va.,  Rep. .  .128      Elbridge  Gerry,  Mass.,  Rep.  131 
De  Witt  Clinton,  N.  Y.,  Fed.  89      Jared  Ingersoll,  Pa.,  Fed.. . .  86 

James  Madison  and  Elbridge  Gerry  were  declared  elected  President 
and  Vice-President. 


AND  ELECTIONS  217 

EIGHTH  ELECTION,  1816 
Number  of  States,  19  Electoral  Votes,  221 

PRESIDENT  VICE-PRESIDENT 

James  Monroe,  Va.,  Rep 183      Daniel  D.  Tompkins,  N.  Y., 

Rufus  King,  N.  Y.,  Fed 34          Rep 183 

John  E.  Howard,  Md.,  Fed.  22 

James  Ross,  Pa.,  Fed 5 

John  Marshall,  Va.,  Fed. ...     4 
Robert  G.  Harper,  Md 3 

James  Monroe  and  Daniel  D.  Tompkins  were  declared  elected 
President  and  Vice-President. 


NINTH  ELECTION,  1820 
Number  of  States,  24  Electoral  Votes,  235 

PRESIDENT  VICE-PRESIDENT 

James  Monroe,  Va.,  Rep. . .  .231      Daniel  D.  Tompkins,  N.  Y., 

John  Quincy  Adams,  Mass.,  Rep 218 

Rep 1      Richard  Stockton,  N.  J.,  Rep    8 

Daniel  Rodney,  Del.,  Rep. .  4 
Robt.  G.  Harper,  Md.,  Rep.  1 
Richard  Rush,  Pa.,  Rep 1 

James  Monroe  and  Daniel  G.  Tompkins  were  declared  elected 
President  and  Vice-President. 

TENTH  ELECTION,  1824 
Number  of  States,  24  Electoral  Votes,  261 

PRESIDENT  VICE-PRESIDENT 

Andrew  Jackson,  Tenn.,  Rep.  99  John  C.  Calhoun,  S.  C.,  Rep.182 
J.  Q.  Adams,  Mass.,  Rep.. . .  84  Nathan  Sanford,  N.Y.,  Rep.  30 
W.  H.  Crawford,  Ga.,  Rep . .  41  Nath'l  Macon,  N.  C.,  Rep. . .  24 

Henry  Clay,  Ky.,  Rep 37      Andrew  Jackson,  Tenn.,  Rep  13 

M.  Van  Buren,  N.  Y., Rep..  9 
Henry  Clay,  Ky.,  Rep 2 

Andrew  Jackson  and  John  C.  Calhoun  were  declared  elected  Presi- 
dent and  Vice-President. 


218      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 


ii 

PRESIDENTS  AND  VICE-PRESIDENTS  CHOSEN  BY 
ELECTORS  ELECTED  BY  POPULAR  VOTE 

ELEVENTH  ELECTION,  1828 
Number  of  States,  24  Electoral  Votes,  261 

PRESIDENT  ELEC.  VOTE  POPULAR  VOTE 

Andrew  Jackson,  Term.,  Dem 178  647,231 

John  Quincy  Adams,  Mass.,  Rep 83  509,097 

VICE-PRESIDENT 

John  C.  Calhoun,  S.  C.,  Dem 171 

Richard  Rush,  Pa.,  Rep 83 

William  Smith,  S.  C.,  Dem 7 

TWELFTH  ELECTION,  1832 
Number  of  States,  24  Electoral  Votes,  286 

PRESIDENT  ELEC.  VOTE  POPULAR  VOTE 

Andrew  Jackson,  Term.,  Dem 219  687,502 

Henry  Clay,  Ky.,  Nat.  Rep 49  530,189 

John  Floyd,  Va.,  Ind 11 1  QQ  inc 

William  Wirt,  Md.,  Anti-Masonic. ...  7  J 

VICE-PRESIDENT 

Martin  Van  Buren,  N.  Y.,  Dem 189 

John  Sergeant,  Pa.,  Nat.  Rep 49 

William  Wilkins,  Pa.,  Dem 30 

Henry  Lee,  Mass.,  Ind 11 

Amos  Ellmaker,  Pa.,  Anti-Masonic. . .  7 


THIRTEENTH  ELECTION,  1836 

Number  of  States,  26  Electoral  Votes,  294 

PRESIDENT  ELEC.  VOTE  POPULAR  VOTE 

Martin  Van  Buren,  N.  Y.,  Dem 170                761,549 

Wm.  H.  Harrison,  Ohio,  Whig 73  1               7qft  flrrA 

Hugh  L.  White,  Tenn.,  Whig 26  /              7t5b'b5 

Daniel  Webster,  Mass.,  Whig 14 

Willie  P.  Mangum,  N.  C.,  Whig 11 


AND  ELECTIONS  219 

VICE-PRESIDENT 

Richard  M.  Johnson,  Ky.,  Dem 147 

Francis  Granger,  N.  Y.,  Whig 77 

John  Tyler,  Va.,  Whig 47 

William  Smith,  Ala.,  Dem 23 

FOURTEENTH  ELECTION,  1840 
Number  of  States,  26  Electoral  Votes,  294 

PRESIDENT  ELEC.  VOTE  POPULAR  VOTE 

William  H.  Harrison,  Ohio,  Whig 234  1,275,017 

Martin  Van  Buren,  N.  Y.,  Dem 60  1,128,702 

James  G.  Birney,  N.  Y.,  Lib 

VICE-PRESIDENT 

John  Tyler,  Va.,  Whig 234 

R.  M.  Johnson,  Ky. ,  Dem 48 

L.  W.  Tazewell,  Va.,  Dem 11 

James  K.  Polk,  Tenn.,  Dem. . . : 1 

Thomas  Earl,  Pa.,  Lib 

The  Abolition  or  Liberty  party  pulled  7,069  votes. 


FIFTEENTH  ELECTION,  1844 

Number  of  States,  26  Electoral  Votes,  275 

PRESIDENT  ELEC.  VOTE  POPULAR  VOTE 

James  K.  Polk,  Tenn.,  Dem 170               1,337,243 

Henry  Clay,  Ky.,  Whig 105               1,299,068 

James  G.  Birney,  N.  Y.,  Lib 62,300 

VICE-PRESIDENT 

George  M.  Dallas,  Pa.,  Dem 170 

T.  Frelinghuysen,  N.  J.,  Whig 105 

Thomas  Morris,  Ohio,  Lib 

SIXTEENTH  ELECTION,  1848 

Number  of  States,  30  Electoral  Votes,  290 

PRESIDENT  ELEC.  VOTE  POPULAR  VOTE 

Zachary  Taylor,  La.,  Whig 163               1,360,101 

Lewis  Cass,  Mich.,  Dem 127               1,220,544 

Martin  Van  Buren,  N.  Y.,  Free  Soil. .  291,263 


220       PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

VICE-PRESIDENT 

Millard  Fillmore,  N.  Y.,  Whig 163 

William  O.  Butler,  Ky.,  Dem 127 

Charles  F.  Adams,  Mass.,  Free  Soil. . . 

SEVENTEENTH  ELECTION,  1852 

Number  of  States,  31  Electoral  Votes,  296 

PRESIDENT  ELEC.  VOTE  POPULAR  VOTE 

Franklin  Pierce,  N.  H.,  Dem 254               1,601,474 

Winfield  Scott,  N.  J.,  Whig 42               1,380,576 

John  P.  Hale,  N.  H.,  Free  Dem 156,149 

VICE-PRESIDENT 

William  R.  King,  Ala.,  Dem 254 

William  A.  Graham,  N.  C.,  Whig 42 

George  W.  Julian,  Ind.,  Free  Dem  .... 

EIGHTEENTH  ELECTION,  1856 

Number  of  States,  31  Electoral  Votes,  296 

PRESIDENT  ELEC.  VOTE  POPULAR  VOTE 

James  Buchanan,  Pa.,  Dem 174               1,838, 169 

John  C.  Fremont,  Cal.,  Rep 114               1,341,264 

Millard  Fillmore,  N.  Y.,  Amer 8                 874,538 

VICE-PRESIDENT 

John  C.  Breckinridge,  Ky.,  Dem 174 

Wm.  L.  Dayton,  N.  J.,  Rep 114 

A.  J.  Donelson,  Tenn.,  Amer 8 

NINETEENTH  ELECTION,  1860 

Number  of  States,  33  Electoral  Votes,  303 

PRESIDENT  ELEC.  VOTE  POPULAR  VOTE 

Abraham  Lincoln,  111.,  Rep 180                1,866,352 

John  C.  Breckinridge,  Ky.,  Dem 72                   845,763 

Stephen  A.  Douglas,  111.,  Dem 12                1,375,157 

John  Bell,  Term.,  Union 39                 589,  581 

VICE-PRESIDENT 

Hannibal  Hamlin,  Me.,  Rep 180 

Joseph  Lane,  Ore.,  Dem 72 

H.  V.  Johnson,  Ga.,  Dem 12 

Edward  Everett,  Mass.,  Union 39 


AND  ELECTIONS  221 

TWENTIETH  ELECTION,  1864 
Number  of  States,  25  Electoral  Votes,  233 

POPULAR  AND 
PRESIDENT  ELEC.  VOTE   SOLDIER  VOTE 

Pop.,   2,213,665 
Abraham  Lincoln,  111.,  Rep 212        SoL'        116'887 

2,330,552 

I  Pop.,   1,802,237 
Sol.,         33,748 
1,835,985 

VICE-PRESIDENT 

Andrew  Johnson,  Tenn.,  Rep 

George  H.  Pendleton,  Ohio,  Dem 21 

Provision  was  made  by  the  States  to  take  the  vote  of  soldiers  in 
the  field. 

TWENTY-FIRST  ELECTION,  1868 
Number  of  States,  37  Electoral  Votes,  294 

PRESIDENT  ELEC.  VOTE  POPULAR  VOTE 

Ulysses  S.  Grant,  111.,  Rep 214  3,015,071 

Horatio  Seymour,  N.  Y.,  Dem 80  2,709,615 

VICE-PRESIDENT 

Schuyler  Coif  ax,  Ind.,  Rep 214 

Francis  P.  Blair,  Mo.,  Dem 80 

Florida,  Mississippi,  Texas,  and  Virginia  had  no  vote  because  not 
reconstructed. 

TWENTY-SECOND  ELECTION,  1872 
Number  of  States,  37  Electoral  Votes,  366 

PRESIDENT  ELEC.  VOTE  POPULAR  VOTE 

Ulysses  S.  Grant,  111.,  Rep 286  3,597,070 

Horace  Greeley,  N.  Y.,  Lib.  &  Dem. .  2,834,079 

Charles  O'Connor,  N.  Y.,  Dem 29,408 

VICE-PRE  SIDENT 

Henry  Wilson,  Mass.,  Rep 286 

B.  Gratz  Brown,  Mo.,  Lib.  &  Dem 

John  Quincy  Adams,  Mass.,  Dem .... 

Mr.  Greeley  died  a  few  weeks  after  election  and  his  electoral 
votes  were  scattered  among  several  candidates  when  the  official 
canvass  was  made. 


222       PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

TWENTY-THIRD  ELECTION,  1876 
Number  of  States,  38  Electoral  Votes,  369 

PRESIDENT  ELEC.  VOTE  POPULAR  VOTE 

Rutherford  B.  Hayes,  Ohio,  Rep 185  4,033,950 

Samuel  J.  Tilden,  N.  Y.,  Dem 184  4,284,885 

Peter  Cooper,  N.  Y.,  Greenback 

Green  C.  Smith,  Ky.,  Pro. 

James  R.  Walker,  111.,  Amer 

VICE-PRESIDENT 

William  A.  Wheeler,  N.  Y.,  Rep 185 

Thos.  A.  Hendricks,  Ind.,  Dem 184 

Samuel  F.  Gary,  Ohio,  Greenback .... 

Gideon  T.  Stewart,  Ohio,  Pro 

D.  Kirkpatrick,  N.  Y.,  Amer 

TWENTY-FOURTH  ELECTION,  1880 
Number  of  States,  38  Electoral  Votes,  369 

PRESIDENT  ELEC.  VOTE   POPULAR  VOTE 

James  A.  Garfield,  Ohio,  Rep 214              4,449,053 

Winfield  S.  Hancock,  Pa.,  Dem 155               4,442,035 

James  B.  Weaver,  Iowa,  Greenback . . .  307,306 

Neal  Dow,  Maine,  Pro 10,305 

John  W.  Phelps,  Vt.,  Amer 

VICE-PRESIDENT 

Chester  A.  Arthur,  N.  Y.,  Rep 214 

William  H.  English,  Ind.,  Dem 155 

B.  J.  Chambers,  Tex.,  Greenback 

H.  A.  Thompson,  Ore.,  Pro 

S.  C.  Pomeroy,  Ky.,  Amer 

TWENTY-FIFTH  ELECTION,  1884 
Number  of  States,  38  Electoral  Votes,  401 

PRESIDENT  ELEC.  VOTE  POPULAR  VOTE 

Grover  Cleveland,  N.  Y.,  Dem 219              4,911,017 

James  G.  Blaine,  Me.,  Rep 182              4,848,334 

Benj.  F.  Butler,  Mass.,  Greenback.. . .  133,825 

John  P.  St.  John,  Ky.,  Pro 151,809 

VICE-PRESIDENT 

Thos.  A.  Hendricks,  Ind.,  Dem 219 

John  A.  Logan,  111.,  Rep 182 

A.  M.  West,  Miss.,  Greenback 

William  Daniel,  Md.,  Pro 


AND  ELECTIONS  223 

TWENTY-SIXTH  ELECTION,  1888 

Number  of  States,  38  Electoral  Votes,  401 

PRESIDENT  ELEC.  VOTE  POPULAR  VOTE 

Benjamin  Harrison,  Ind.,  Rep 233               5,440,216 

Grover  Cleveland,  N.  Y.,  Dem 168               5,556,918 

Clinton  B.  Fisk,  N.  J.,  Pro 249,907 

A.  J.  Streeter,  111.,  N.  L 148,105 

VICE-PRESIDENT 

Levi  P.  Morton,  N.  Y.,  Rep 233 

Allen  G.  Thurman,  Ohio,  Dem 168 

John  A.  Brooks,  Mo.,  Pro 

A.  E.  Cunningham,  Ark.,  N.  L 

TWENTY-SEVENTH  ELECTION,  1892 

Number  of  States,  44  Electoral  Votes,  444 

PRESIDENT  ELEC.  VOTE  POPULAR  VOTE 

Grover  Cleveland,  N.  Y.,  Dem 277               5,556,918 

Benj.  Harrison,  Ind.,  Rep 145               5,176,108 

James  B.  Weaver,  Iowa,  Pop 22               1,041,028 

John  Bedwell,  Cal.,  Pro 

VICE-PRESIDENT 

Adlai  E.  Stevenson,  111.,  Dem 277 

Whitelaw  Reid,  N.  Y.,  Rep 145 

James  G.  Field,  Va.,  Pop 22 

James  B.  Cranfill,  Texas,  Pro 


TWENTY-EIGHTH  ELECTION,  1896 
Number  of  States,  45  Electoral  Votes,  447 

PRESIDENT  ELEC.  VOTE  POPULAR  VOTE 

William  McKinley,  Ohio,  Rep 271               7,104,779 

W.  J.  Bryan,  Neb.,  Dem.  and  Pop.. . .  176               6,502,925 

John  M.  Palmer,  111.,  Nat.  Dem 133,148 

Joshua  Levering,  Md.,  Pro 132,007 

VICE-PRESIDENT 

Theodore  Roosevelt,  N.  Y.,  Rep 271 

Arthur  Sewall,  Me.,  Dem 149 

Thomas  E.  Watson,  Ga.,  Pop 27 

Simon  B.  Buckner,  Ky.,  Nat.  Dem. . . 
Hale  Johnson,  111.,  Pro 


224      PRESIDENTIAL  NOMINATIONS 

TWENTY-NINTH  ELECTION,  1900 
Number  of  States,  45  Electoral  Votes,  447 

PRESIDENT  ELEC.  VOTE  POPULAR  VOTE 

William  McKinley,  Ohio,  Rep 292  7,207,923 

William  J.  Bryan,  Neb.,  Dem 155  6,358,133 

John  G.  Wooley,  111.,  Pro 208,914 

VICE-PRESIDENT 

Theodore  Roosevelt,  N.  Y.,  Rep 292 

Adlai  E.  Stevenson,  111.,  Dem 155 

Henry  B.  Metcalf,  Ohio,  Pro 

THIRTIETH  ELECTION,  1904 
Number  of  States,  45  Electoral  Votes,  476 

PRESIDENT  ELEC.  VOTE  POPULAR  VOTE 

Theodore  Roosevelt,  N.  Y.,  Rep 336               7,623,486 

Alton  B.  Parker,  N.  Y.,  Dem 140              5,077,911 

Eugene  V.  Debs,  Ind.,  Soc 402,283 

Silas  C.  Swallow,  Pa.,  Pro 258,536 

Thos.  E.  Watson,  Ga.,  Pop 117,183 

VICE-PRESIDENT 

Charles  W.  Fairbanks,  Ind.,  Rep 336 

Henry  G.  Davis,  W.  Va.,  Dem 140 

Benj.  Hanford,  N.  Y.,  Soc 

George  W.  Carroll,  Texas,  Pro 

Thos.  H.  Tibbies,  Neb.,  Pop 

THIRTY-FIRST  ELECTION,  1908 
Number  of  States,  46  Electoral  Votes,  483 

PRESIDENT  ELEC.  VOTE  POPULAR  VOTE 

William  H.  Taft,  Ohio,  Rep 321               7,678,908 

William  J.  Bryan,  Neb.,  Dem 162               6,409,104 

Eugene  V.  Debs,  Ind.,  Soc 420,793 

Eugene  W.  Chapin,  Ariz.,  Pro 253,840 

Thomas  E.  Watson,  Ga.,  Pop 29,100 

VICE-PRESIDENT 

James  S.  Sherman,  N.  Y.,  Rep 321 

John  W.  Kern,  Ind.,  Dem 162 

Benjamin  Hanford,  N.  Y.,  Soc 

Aaron  S.  Watkins,  Ohio,  Pro 

Samuel  Williams,  Ind.,  Pop 


AND  ELECTIONS 


225 


THIRTY-SECOND  ELECTION,  1912 


Number  of  States,  48 


PRESIDENT 


Electoral  Votes,  531 

ELEC.  VOTE  POPULAR  VOTE 

Woodrow  Wilson,  N.  J.,  Dem 435               6,293,019 

Theodore  Roosevelt,  N.  Y.,  Prog 88               4,119,507 

William  H.  Taft,  Ohio,  Rep 8               3,484,956 

Eugene  V.  Debs,  Ind.,  Soc 901,873 

Eugene  W.  Chapin,  Ariz.,  Pro 207,928 

*VICE-PRESIDENT 

Thomas  R.  Marshall,  Ind.,  Dem 435 

Hiram  W.  Johnson,  Cal 88 

Nicholas  Murray  Butler,  N.  Y.,  Rep. .  8 

Emil  Seidel,  Wis.,  Soc 

Aaron  S.  Watkins,  Ohio,  Pro 

*  The  Republican  candidate,  James  S.  Sherman,  died  on  October 
30,  before  the  election,  and  the  National  Republican  Committee  ap- 
pointed N.  M.  Butler  to  the  vacancy. 


INDEX 


ADAMS,  Charles  F.,  electoral 
vote  for,  220. 

Adams,  Henry,  description  of 
Burr,  184;  excuse  of  John 
Adams,  196,  197. 

Adams,  John,  description  of  a 
caucus  club,  2,  3;  7,  126-128, 
172, 173;  inauguration  of,  177- 
180;  185;  inauguration  dress 
of,  186;  failure  to  attend  in- 
auguration of  successor,  195- 
197;  letter,  196, 197;  204;  elec- 
toral votes  cast  for,  127,  128, 
215,  216. 

Adams,  John  Quincy,  charges 
against,  134, 135;  186;  inaugu- 
ration dress  of,  188;  189;  rea- 
sons for  absence  from  Jack- 
son's inauguration,  197-199; 
on  Harrison's  inauguration, 
201;  on  Folk's  inauguration, 
202,  203;  electoral  votes  cast 
for,  217,  218. 

Adams,  John  Quincy,  the  young- 
er, electoral  vote  for,  221. 

Adams,  Samuel,  3;  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  215. 

Adams,  T.  Q.,  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  217. 

Ames,  Fisher,  account  of  Wash- 
ington's inauguration,  174, 
175. 

Anti-Masonic  party,  the,  8. 

Armstrong,  James,  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  215. 

Arthur,  Chester  A.,  62,  64;  elec- 
toral votes  cast  for,  222. 

BALL,  inauguration,  204. 
Baltimore  convention  of  1831,  8; 
of  1835,  11;  of  1844,  16-21; 


of  1852,  32-35;  of  1860,  52, 
53. 

Barnes,  William,  Jr.,  111. 

Bayard,  Samuel  F.,  92. 

Beard,  Frank,  155. 

Bedwell,  John,  electoral  vote  for, 
223. 

Beecher,  149. 

Bell,  John,  electoral  votes  cast 
for,  220. 

Bennett,  149. 

Biddle,  Nicholas,  146. 

Birney,  James  G.,  electoral  vote 
for,  219. 

Blaine,  James  G.,  long  period  a 
presidential  candidate,  55; 
charge  against,  55;  illness  of, 
56;  congratulatory  message  to 
Mr.  Hayes,  56;  disappoint- 
ment at  result  of  Cincinnati 
convention,  57;  nomination  in 
1884,  58,  71;  letter  to  friend, 
concerning  his  defeat,  59;  re- 
fusal of  candidacy  in  1888,  59; 
resignation  from  secretary- 
ship of  state,  59;  defeated  in 
1892,  60,  61;  an  aid  to  Cleve- 
land, 62,  63;  64-66;  70;  politi- 
cal idol  in  1880,  80;  82-84; 
wild  demonstrations  for,  85; 
108;  caricatures  of,  161,  162; 
electoral  votes  cast  for,  86, 222. 

Blair,  Francis  P.,  147;  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  221. 

Bosses,  control  of  national  con- 
ventions by,  99,  100. 

Breckinridge,  John  C.,  52;  elec- 
toral votes  cast  for,  220. 

Bristow,  Benjamin  H.,  70. 

Brooks,  John  A.,  electoral  vote 
for,  223. 


227 


228 


INDEX 


Brooks,  Noah,  on  Lincoln's  re- 
ception of  the  news  of  his  re- 
election, 50;  account  of  Lin- 
coln's second  inauguration, 
210,  211. 

Brown,  B.  Gratz,  electoral  vote 
for,  221. 

Bryan,  William  Jennings,  nom- 
ination in  1896  and  in  1900, 
93,  94;  defeat  in  1904,  94; 
nomination  in  1908,  95;  98; 
electoral  votes  cast  for,  223, 
224. 

Buchanan,  James,  16,  90,  150, 
203;  electoral  votes  cast  for, 
220. 

Buckner,  Simon  B.,  electoral 
vote  for,  223. 

Bunner,  H.  C.,  161. 

Burr,  Aaron,  127,  183-185;  elec- 
toral votes  cast  for,  127,  215, 
216. 

Butler,  Benjamin  F.,  19,  53, 
54;  electoral  votes  cast  for, 
222. 

Butler,  Nicholas  Murray,  elec- 
toral votes  cast  for,  225. 

Butler,  William  O.,  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  220. 

CALHOUN,  John  C.,  128,  146; 
electoral  votes  cast  for,  217, 
218. 

Cameron,  John,  156. 

Campaigning,  Jackson's  meth- 
ods of,  132-139;  a  French- 
man's account  of  Jackson  pro- 
cessions, 137-139;  campaign 
of  1840,  139-141. 

Caricature,  132,  136,  137;  mod- 
ern school  of  political,  142, 
143;  early  American,  145-150; 
American  school  of,  founded 
by  Keppler,  159,  160. 

Caricatures,  the  Jackson,  142; 
the  Punch,  143,  144;  many- 


figured  group,  144;  use  of  loop 
in,  148,  149,  160;  the  Lincoln, 
152-156;  comic  weekly,  157- 
162;  Democratic  Donkey,  158; 
Republican  Elephant,  158; 
Tammany  Tiger,  158;  multi- 
colored, 160,  161;  lithograph 
sheet,  142,  160;  artistic  merit 
of,  161;  Elaine-Cleveland  cam- 
paign, 161,  162;  daily  cartoon, 
162-164;  "A  Boston  Notion 
of  the  World's  Fair,"  147; 
"Bleeding  Kansas  Fund," 
150;  "The  Great  Presiden- 
tial Sweepstakes,"  149;  "An 
Heir  to  the  Throne,"  152; 
"The  Impending  Crisis,"  152; 
"The  Irrepressible  Conflict," 
152;  "Jackson  Clearing  His 
Kitchen,"  146;  "The  Mus- 
tang Team,"  149;  "The Nigger 
in  the  Woodpile,"  152; 
"Phryne,"  163;  "Progressive 
Democracy,"  153;  "Rats  Leav- 
ing a  Falling  House,"  146; 
"Running  the  Machine,"  155; 
"The  Secession  Movement," 
154;  "Why  Don't  You  Take 
It?"  155. 

Carroll,  George  W.,  electoral 
vote  for,  224. 

Cartoons,  see  Caricatures. 

Gary,  Samuel  F.,  electoral  vote 
for,  222. 

Cass,  General,  16,  32,  146,  147; 
electoral  votes  cast  for,  219. 

Caucus,  the,  origin  of  the  word, 
1,  2;  the  Colonial,  3,  4;  con- 
gressional and  legislative,  4-7; 
128. 

Chambers,  B.  J.,  electoral  vote 
for,  222. 

Chapin,  Eugene  W.,  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  224,  225. 

Charleston  convention  of  1860, 
51-53. 


INDEX 


229 


Chase,  47. 

Chicago  convention  of  1860,  39- 
45;  of  1908,  71-75;  of  1912,  99 
et  seq. 

Chicago  Tribune,  report  on 
"Steam  Roller"  convention, 
104,  105. 

Choate,  Rufus,  33,  34. 

Cincinnati  convention  of  1876, 
55,  56. 

Clark,  Champ,  defeat  in  conven- 
tion of  1912,  96-98;  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  98. 

Clay,  E.  W.,  146,  147. 

Clay,  Henry,  nominated  by  Bal- 
timore convention,  8;  his  "In- 
fant-School," 8;  defeat  at  Har- 
risburg  convention,  1839,  12- 
14;  18;  bitterness  in  defeat, 
22-27;  declined  place  in  Har- 
rison's Cabinet,  24;  nominated 
in  1844,  24;  defeat  of,  24;  his 
own  words  of  his  defeat,  25; 
popular  affection  for,  25,  26; 
defeat  in  1848,  26,  27;  refusal 
to  support  Taylor,  27;  28,  30, 
31,  44,  60,  80,  99,  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  128;  217-219. 

Clayton,  Powell,  108,  110. 

Cleveland,  Grover,  elected  mayor 
of  Buffalo,  62;  governor  of 
New  York,  63;  a  possible  presi- 
dential candidate,  64;  treat- 
ment of  a  counter-scandal 
against  his  rival,  65-68;  recep- 
tion of  news  of  his  election  as 
President,  69;  92;  renomina- 
tion,  93;  caricatures  of,  161, 
162;  electoral  votes  cast  for, 
222,  223. 

Clinton,  De  Witt,  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  216. 

Clinton,  Governor  George,  126, 
169,  170,  173;  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  215,  216. 

Cochrane,  Colonel  John,  156. 


Cogswell,  Doctor  James  Lloyd, 
account  of  Washington's  ar- 
rival in  New  York,  168-170. 

Colfax,  Schuyler,  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  221. 

Conkling,  Senator,  70;  leader  of 
Grant  forces  in  convention  of 
1880,  80-85,  87;  advocates  the 
unit  rule,  81 ;  speech  nominat- 
ing Grant,  82-84. 

Convention,  the  nominating, 
origin  of,  1-7;  first  State,  5-8; 
first  national,  8;  third-term, 
77-88;  in  Baltimore,  1831,  8; 
Democratic  of  1832,  9,  10, 
89;  in  Baltimore,  1835,  11; 
in  Baltimore,  1844,  16-21; 
in  Baltimore,  1852,  32-35;  in 
Harrisburg,  1839, 11-15;  Whig 
convention  of  1848,  26;  Whig 
convention  of  1852,  32-35;  in 
Chicago,  1860,  39-45;  in  Char- 
leston, 1860,  51-53;  in  Rich- 
mond, 1860,  52;  in  Baltimore, 
1860, 52;  in  Cincinnati  in  1876, 
55,  56;  Republican,  of  1876, 
70;  of  1880,  58,  77-80;  of  1884, 
71,  108-110;  of  1888,  59,  71; 
of  1892,  59,  60;  of  1896,  71;  of 
1908,  71-75;  of  1916, 118, 119; 
Progressive,  120-122. 

Cooper,  Peter,  electoral  vote  for, 
222. 

Crane,  Senator  W.  Murray,  103, 
104,  111. 

Cranfill,  James  B.,  electoral 
vote  for,  223. 

Crawford,  W.  H.,  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  128,  217. 

Cummins,  electoral  votes  cast 
for,  118. 

Cunningham,  A.  E.,  electoral 
vote  for,  223. 

Currier  &  Ives,  145,  146,  148. 

Curtis,  George  William,  41,  44, 
108. 


230 


INDEX 


DALLAS,  George  M.,  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  219. 

Dalrymple,  161. 

Daniel,  William,  electoral  vote 
for,  222. 

"Dark  horse,"  in  convention 
nominations,  16-20. 

Davis,  Henry  G.,  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  224. 

Davis,  Jefferson,  156. 

Davis,  John,  181,  182. 

Dayton,  Wm.  L.,  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  220. 

Debs,  Eugene  V.,  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  224,  225. 

Delegates  elected  directly  by  the 
people,  first  convention  to 
have,  100. 

Democratic  convention  of  1832, 
9,  10;  of  1840,  89;  of  1844,  16- 
21;  of  1848  and  1852,  89;  of 
1856  and  1860,  90;  of  1864  to 
1884,  91,  92;  of  1888  and  1896, 
93;  of  1900,  94;  of  1904,  94, 
95;  of  1908,  95;  of  1912,  96- 
98. 

Die  Vehme,  159. 

Dodge,  Mary  A.,  quoted,  56,  57. 

Donelson,  A.  J.,  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  220. 

Douglas,  Stephen  A.,  his  nomi- 
nation in  1860,  51-54;  90; 
caricature  of,  148;  208;  elec- 
toral votes  cast  for,  220. 

Dow,  Neal,  electoral  votes  cast 
for,  222. 

Doyle,  John,  143-145,  148. 

Doyle,  Richard,  143,  144. 

Duer,  William  A.,  180. 

Dunne,  Finley  Peter,  account  of 
election  of  chairman  of  Re- 
publican convention,  111. 

Dutcher,  Silas  B.,  108. 


Edmunds,  64;  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  86. 

Elections,  presidential,  machin- 
ery of,  125-129. 

Electoral  votes,  method  of  count- 
ing, 130,  131. 

Ellmaker,  Amos,  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  218. 

Ellsworth,  Oliver,  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  215. 

English,  William  H.,  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  222. 

Evarts,  William  M.,  45. 

Evening  Post,  comment  of,  on 
convention  of  1844,  20. 

Everett,  Edward,  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  220. 

FAIRBANKS,  Charles  W.;  elec- 
toral votes  cast  for,  224. 

Federal  Hall,  New  York,  171. 

Fessenden,  Secretary,  155. 

Field,  James  G.,  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  223. 

Fillmore,  Millard,  149,  150,  203; 
electoral  votes  cast  for,  220. 

Fisk,  Clinton  B.,  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  223. 

Floyd,  John,  electoral  votes  cast 
for,  218. 

Folger,  Charles,  J.,  62,  63. 

Fosdick,  Frederick,  115,  116. 

Foster,  Sir  Augustus,  descrip- 
tion of  Madison,  187,  188. 

Franklin  House,  the,  170. 

Free-silver  coinage,  the  question 
of,  93,  94. 

Frelinghuysen,  T.,  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  219. 

Fremont,  149,  150. 

Fremont,  Jessie  Benton,  149. 

Fremont,  John  C.,  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  220. 


EARL,   Thomas,   electoral   vote 
for,  219. 


GARFIELD,  James  A.,  58,  71;  his 
rout  of  Conkling,  81, 82;  nomi- 


INDEX 


231 


nation  of,  86,  87;  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  222. 

Garland,  Hamlin,  his  "Life  of 
Grant,"  quoted,  86,  87. 

Garrison,  147. 

Gerry,  Elbridge,  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  216. 

Giddings,  his  motion  at  conven- 
tion of  1860  accepted,  41,  42. 

Gillam,  161-163. 

Gillray,  James,  142-145,  148. 

Gold  standard,  the,  93-95. 

Goodrich,  description  of  a  town 
meeting,  4. 

Gordon,  William,  account  of 
caucus  in  1788,  3;  7. 

Gorman,  Senator  A.  P.,  68. 

Graham,  William  A.,  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  220. 

Granger,  Francis,  15;  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  219. 

Grant,  General  U.  S.,  47;  unop- 
posed candidate,  70;  his  tour 
of  the  world  and  popular  en- 
thusiasm for,  77-79;  his  opin- 
ion on  his  third-term  candi- 
dacy, 78,  79;  Conjkling's 
support  of,  80;  Garfield's  op- 
position to,  81;  Conkling's 
nominating  speech  for,  82-84; 
wild  demonstration  for  in  con- 
vention of  1880,  84,  85;  his  de- 
feat, 86;  reception  of  news  of 
the  balloting,  86,  87;  158,  195; 
inauguration  of,  212;  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  86,  221. 

Greeley,  Horace,  12;  his  admis- 
sion of  plot  to  defeat  Clay,  13, 
14;  account  of  Tyler's  quarrel, 
30;  44,  92;  caricatures  of,  149, 
153,  156,  158;  account  of  Lin- 
coln's inaugural  address,  208, 
209;  anecdote  of  Lincoln,  209, 
210 ;  electoral  votescastf  or,  22 1 . 

Grigsby,  description  of  Madison, 
187. 


HADLEY,  Governor,  protest  to 
Republican  convention  of 
1912,  107,  108,  110. 

Hale,  Senator,  John  P.,  56; 
leader  of  Elaine  forces  in  con- 
vention of  1880,  80,  85;  elec- 
toral votes  cast  for,  220. 

Halpin,  Maria,  65. 

Halstead,  Murat,  description  of 
scenes  in  the  Wigwam,  42,  43. 

Hamilton,  165,  176. 

Hamlin,  Hannibal,  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  220. 

Hancock,  John,  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  215. 

Hancock,  General  Winfield  S., 
electoral  votes  cast  for,  92, 
222. 

Hanford,  Benjamin,  electoral 
vote  for,  224. 

Hanks,  John,  151. 

Harmon,  Judson,  97;  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  98. 

Harper,  Robert  G.,  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  217. 

Harper's  Weekly,  caricatures  in, 
154,  157,  158. 

Harrisburg,  convention  of  1839, 
11-15. 

Harrison,  Benjamin,  59,  60; 
nomination  of,  71;  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  223. 

Harrison,  Robert  H.,  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  215. 

Harrison,  General  W.  H.,  nomi- 
nation at  Harrisburg  conven- 
tion, 12-15;  16,  23,  24,  28; 
inaugural  address,  29,  30;  31, 
32,  89;  in  the  political  cam- 
paign of  1840,  139-141;  in- 
auguration of,  200,  201;  elec- 
toral votes  cast  for,  218,  219. 

Hart,  Professor  Albert  Bushnell, 
account  of  roll-call  at  conven- 
tion of  1912,  115-117. 

Hartranft,  Governor,  70. 


232 


INDEX 


Harvey,  Peter,  30,  34,  35. 

Hayes,  Rutherford  B.,  56;  nomi- 
nation of,  70,  130;  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  129,  222. 

Hayne,  28. 

Hendricks,  Thomas  A.,  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  129,  222. 

Henry,  John,  electoral  votes  cast 
for,  215. 

Herndon,  his  account  of  Lin- 
coln's attitude  in  1860,  38,  39; 
41,  46,  205. 

Hill,  David  B.,  94. 

Howard,  John  E.,  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  217. 

Hudson,  William  C.,  quoted,  64, 
65;  account  of  Cleveland's 
treatment  of  a  scandal  against 
his  opponent,  66,  67. 

Hughes,  electoral  votes  cast  for, 
118. 

Humphreys,  Colonel,  186. 

Huntington,  Samuel,  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  215. 

Hyer,  Tom,  43. 

INAUGURATION,  first  out-of-door, 

188;clothes,  186-188;  ball,  204. 
Inaugurations,  presidential,  165 

et  seq.;  second-term,  194. 
Ingersoll,  Jared,  electoral  votes 

cast  for,  216. 
Iredell,    James,    electoral   votes 

cast  for,  215. 
Irving,    Washington,    describes 

Washington's  inauguration 

dress,     173;     description     of 

Madison,  187. 
Ives,  James  M.,  146. 

JACKSON,  General  Andrew,  8; 
and  the  convention  system,  9- 
11;  two-thirds  rule  established 
by,  10,  89;  17, 19,99, 127, 128; 
campaigning  methods  of,  132- 
139;  charges  against,  136;  his 


campaign  for  re-election,  135, 
136;  his  "kitchen  cabinet," 
136;  caricatures  of,  136,  137, 
142,  154;  a  Frenchman's  ac- 
count of  his  campaign  pro- 
cessions, 137-139;  first  in- 
auguration, 190-193;  second 
inauguration,  193,  194;  per- 
sonal appearance,  194;  at  Van 
Buren's  inauguration,  199; 
Adams's  absence  from  inaug- 
uration of,  197-199;  211;  elec- 
toral votes  cast  for,  127,  128, 
217,  218. 

Jay,  John,  electoral  votes  cast 
for,  215,  216. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  126,  127,  176, 
180;  inauguration  of,  181-185; 
personal  appearance  of,  183; 
dislike  of  Marshall  and  Burr, 
185;  inauguration  dress,  186; 
187,  195,  196,  204;  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  127,  215,  216. 

Johnson,  Andrew,  failure  to  at- 
tend successor's  inauguration, 
195;  electoral  votes  cast  for, 
221. 

Johnson,  Hale,  electoral  vote 
for,  223. 

Johnson,  H.  V.,  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  220. 

Johnson,  Hiram  W.,  122;  elec- 
toral votes  cast  for,  225. 

Johnson,  Richard  M.,  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  219. 

Johnson,  Samuel,  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  215. 

Judge  cartoons,  159,  162. 

Julian,  George  W.,  electoral 
vote  for,  220. 

KEPPLER,  Joseph,  159-162. 
Kern,  John  W.,  electoral  votes 

cast  for,  224. 
King,  Rufus,  electoral  votes  cast 

for,  216,  217. 


INDEX 


233 


King,  William  R.,  148;  electoral 

votes  cast  for,  220. 
Kirkpatrick,    D.,  electoral  vote 

for,  222. 
"Kitchen    cabinet,"    Jackson's, 

136,  146,  154. 
Knox,  General,  166. 

LAFAYETTE,  165. 

La  Follette,  Senator,  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  101,  118. 

Lamont,  Daniel,  66-68. 

Lane,  Joseph,  52 ;  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  220. 

Langdon,  John,  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  216. 

Lee,  Henry,  electoral  votes  cast 
for,  218. 

Leech,  John,  143,  144. 

Levering,  Joshua,  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  223. 

Lewis,  Dixon  H.,  146. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  presidential 
aspirations  in  1860,  37;  letters 
to  a  Kansas  friend,  37,  38; 
nomination  at  the  Wigwam, 
39-45;  his  reception  of  the 
news  of  his  nomination,  46; 
reception  of  news  of  election, 
46,  47;  his  renomination,  47; 
discouragement  regarding  like- 
lihood of  re-election,  48,  49; 
reception  of  news  of  re-elec- 
tion, 50;  51;  "rail-splitter," 
candidate,  151;  caricatures  of, 
152-156;  first  inauguration, 
205-210;  farewell  speech,  206; 
inaugural  address,  208,  209; 
anecdote  of,  209,  210;  second 
inauguration,  210-212;  elec- 
toral votes  cast  for,  220,  221. 

Lincoln,  Benjamin,  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  215. 

Livingston,  Chancellor,  172, 186. 

Livingston,  Mrs.  Peter  Van 
Brugh,  204. 


Lodge,  Henry  Cabot,  quoted, 
28;  opinion  on  Webster's  last 
candidacy,  33;  73,  75,  108. 

Loeb,  Secretary,  73. 

Logan,  John  A.,  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  222. 

Lynch,  John  B.,  108,  110. 

MCCLELLAN,  General  George  B., 
nomination  of,  48;  49,  92; 
caricature  of,  155;  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  221. 

McClure,  Colonel  A.  K.,  his  ac- 
count of  Scott's  defeat,  15; 
of  Blaine  after  Cincinnati  con- 
vention, 57;  of  Grant  after 
defeat,  87,  88;  on  Johnson's 
non-attendance  at  Grant's  in- 
auguration, 195. 

McKinley,  William,  nomination 
of,  71;  second  inauguration, 
212;  electoral  votes  cast  for, 
223,  224. 

Maclay,  Senator,  description  of 
Washington's  inauguration, 
173,  174;  description  of  Jef- 
ferson's appearance,  183. 

Macon,  Nathaniel,  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  217. 

Madison,  James,  inauguration 
dress,  186;  contemporaneous 
pictures  of,  187,  188;  204; 
electoral  votes  cast  for,  216. 

Mangum,  Willie  P.,  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  218. 

Marcy,  147,  148. 

Marshall,  John,  183-185;  elec- 
toral votes  cast  for,  217. 

Marshall,  Thomas  R.,  electoral 
vote  for,  225. 

Maurer,  Louis,  153. 

Maxwell,  Mrs.,  204. 

Metcalf,  Henry  B.,  electoral 
vote  for,  224. 

Milton,  John,  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  215. 


234 


INDEX 


Monroe,  James,  127;  first  out- 
of-door  inauguration,  188;  sec- 
ond inauguration,  189;  elec- 
toral votes  cast  for,  216,  217. 

Morris,  Thomas,  electoral  vote 
for,  219. 

Morse,  John  T.,  Jr.,  188;  on 
Adams's  failure  to  attend  Jef- 
ferson's inauguration,  196. 

Morton,  Levi  P.,  70;  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  223. 

Mulvane,  Committeeman,  105. 

NAST,  Thomas,  157,  158. 

National  assembly  of  young  men 
at  Washington,  1832,  8. 

National  Intelligencer,  quoted, 
189,  197. 

National  Republican  Committee, 
101  et  seq.'}  composition  of, 
102;  the  leaders,  103;  brand  of 
"Steam  Roller"  applied  to, 
104-107;  control  of  conven- 
tion, 112,  113;  election  of  a 
new,.  118. 

National  Republican  party,  8. 

New  York  Historical  Society, 
155. 

New  York  Tribune,  quoted,  108, 
109. 

Nicolay  and  Hay,  their  "Life  of 
Lincoln,"  quoted,  39,  47,  48, 
205,  212. 

Niles's  Register,  quoted,  197. 

O'CONNOR,     Charles,     electoral 

votes  cast  for,  221. 
Oglesby,  "Dick,"  151. 
Opper,  161. 
Osgood,  Samuel,  170. 

PALMER,     John    M.,     electoral 

votes  cast  for,  223. 
Parker,  Alton  B.,  94, 95 ;  his  views 

on  the  gold  standard,  94,  95; 

electoral  votes  cast  for,  224. 
Partridge,  Bernard,  144. 


Pendleton,  George  H.,  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  221. 

Pennsylvania  Packet,  quoted, 
167. 

Penrose,  Senator,  103,  111. 

Phelps,  John  W.,  electoral  vote 
for,  222. 

Pickering,  John,  his  "Vocabu- 
lary of  Americanisms,"  1,  2. 

Pierce,  General,  35;  caricature 
of,  148,  149;  inauguration  of, 
203;  electoral  votes  cast  for, 
220. 

Pinckney,  Charles  C.,  64;  elec- 
toral votes  cast  for,  127,  215, 
216. 

Pinckney,  Thomas,  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  215. 

Pocahontas,  the,  133. 

Polk,  James  K.,  stampede  for,  in 
Democratic  convention  of 
1844,  16-20;  inauguration  of, 
201-203;  204;  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  219. 

Pomeroy,  S.  C.,  electoral  vote 
for,  222. 

President,  election  of,  125-129. 

Presidential  succession,  changes 
in  regard  to,  130. 

Processions,  campaign,  137-139, 
140. 

Progressive  convention,  120-122. 

Puck  cartoons,  159,  160,  162. 

Punch  cartoons,  144,  148,  161. 

QUINCY,  Eliza  Morton,  descrip- 
tion of  balcony  scene  at  Wash- 
ington's inauguration,  172, 
173. 

RANDALL,  54. 

Raymond,  Henry  J.,  149,  153. 

Reed,  Speaker,  23. 

Reid,  Whitelaw,  electoral  votes 

cast  for,  223. 
Republican  convention  of  1880, 

77-88;  of  1884,   108-110;  of 


INDEX 


235 


1888,  59,  71;  of  1892,  59,  60; 
of  1896,  71;  of  1908,  71-75. 

Republican  convention  in  Chi- 
cago, 1912,  99  et  seq.;  dele- 
gates to,  100,  101,  106;  protest 
of  Roosevelt  leaders,  107,  108, 
110;  election  of  temporary 
chairman,  107-111;  represen- 
tative government  principle  at 
stake,  108,  110;  contested 
delegates,  112-115;  irregular- 
ity in  polling  vote,  115-118. 

Rice,  Thomas  D.,  143,  144. 

Ringgold,  Marshal,  198. 

Rodney,  Daniel,  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  217. 

Roosevelt,  Theodore,  nomina- 
tion for  the  presidency,  71; 
choice  of  Mr.  Taft  as  his  suc- 
cessor, 71;  refusal  to  accept 
nomination  in  1908,  72,  73;  94, 
95;  protest  to  convention  of 
1884,  108-110;  speech,  109; 
and  the  Republican  conven- 
tion of  1912,  101,  102;  with- 
draws delegates  from  Repub- 
lican convention,  113,  118, 
120;  nominated  candidate  of 
Progressive  party,  121,  122; 
speech  at  founding  of  Progres- 
sive party,  121;  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  101,  118,  123,  124, 
223-225;  inauguration  of,  213. 

Root,  Senator  Elihu,  temporary 
chairman  of  National  Com- 
mittee, 112;  decision  on  seat- 
ing delegates  in  convention, 
112-114;  irregularity  in  poll- 
ing Massachusetts  vote,  115- 
117. 

Rosewater,  Victor,  103,  111. 

Ross,  James,  electoral  votes  cast 
for,  217. 

Rowley,  86. 

Rush,  Richard,  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  217,  218. 


Rutledge,  John,  electoral  votes 

cast  for,  215. 
Rynders,  Isaiah,  53. 

ST.  JOHN,  John  P.,  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  222. 

Sanbourne,  Linley,  144. 

Sanford,  Nathan,  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  217. 

Schouler,  his  account  of  Morse 
telegraph  report,  20;  descrip- 
tion of  Jackson's  personal  ap- 
pearance, 194. 

Schurz,  Carl,  account  of  Clay's 
defeat,  24,  25;  156. 

Scott,  General  Winfield,  defeat 
at  Harrisburg  convention,  12- 
15;  nomination  in  1852,  34r-36; 
61;  caricatures  of,  155;  207; 
electoral  votes  cast  for,  220. 

Scott,  Nathan  B.,  105. 

Seidel,  Emil,  electoral  vote  for, 
225. 

Sergeant,  John,  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  218. 

Sewall,  Arthur,  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  223. 

Seward,  William  H.,  12,  13,  35, 
38,  40,  42-44;  reception  of  the 
news  of  his  defeat,  45;  49; 
caricatures  of,  153. 

Seymour,  Horatio,  92;  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  221. 

Sheehan,  William  F.,  94. 

Sherman,  James  S.,  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  224. 

Sherman,  John,  71,  81,  84;  elec- 
toral votes  cast  for,  86. 

Smith,  Goldwin,  account  of 
Webster's  last  days,  36;  38. 

Smith,  Green  C.,  electoral  vote 
for,  222. 

Smith,  William,  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  218,  219. 

"Stampede,"  nomination  by 
means  of,  16-20. 


236 


INDEX 


Stansbury,  Arthur  J.,  account  of 

Jackson's  inauguration,   190- 

192. 
Stanwood,    on    the    two-thirds 

rule,  91. 
State    nominating    convention, 

the  first,  5,  6,  8. 
"Steam-roller,"  the,  104  et  seq.} 

124. 

Stephenson,  "Big  Steve,"  105. 
Stevens,  Thaddeus,  15. 
Stevenson,   Adlai   E.,   electoral 

votes  cast  for,  223,  224. 
Stewart,    Gideon    T.,    electoral 

vote  for,  222. 
Stockton,     Richard,      electoral 

votes  cast  for,  217. 
Story,  Joseph,  picture  of  John 

Marshall,  184;  193. 
Streeter,  A.  J.,  electoral  votes 

cast  for,  223. 
Simmer,  156. 
Swallow,  Silas  C.,  electoral  votes 

cast  for,  224. 

TAFT,  Charlie,  73-75. 

Taft,  Mrs.,  73-76,  213. 

Taft,  William  H.,  64;  nomina- 
tion of,  71-76,  95;  in  the 
convention  of  1912,  101-107, 
116-118;  inauguration  of,  213; 
electoral  votes  cast  for,  101, 
118,  123,  124,  224,  225. 

Tammany  Ring  cartoons,  157, 
158. 

Taney,  Chief  Justice,  208. 

Tarbell,  Ida,  on  Lincoln's  recep- 
tion of  the  news  of  his  elec- 
tion, 47. 

Taylor,  General  Zachary,  nomi- 
nation for  presidency  in  1848, 
26,  27;  Webster's  dislike  of, 
31,  32;  60,  146,  147,  161;  in- 
auguration ball,  204;  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  219. 


Tazewell,  L.  W.,  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  219. 

Telegraph,  first  nomination  pro- 
ceedings to  be  reported  by,  16, 
20,  21;  inauguration  cere- 
monies reported  by,  202. 

Telfair,  Edward,  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  215. 

Tenniel,  John,  143,  144. 

Third-term  convention,  77-88. 

Thompson,  H.  A.,  electoral  vote 
for,  222. 

Thornton,  Edward,  account  of 
Jefferson's  inauguration,  182. 

Thurman,  Allen  G.,  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  223. 

Tibbies,  Thos,  H.,  electoral  vote 
for,  224. 

Tilden,  Samuel  J.,  92;  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  129,  130,  222. 

Tilton,  Theodore,  156. 

"Tippecanoe  and  Tyler  too," 
139-141. 

Tompkins,  Daniel  D.,  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  217. 

Tweed,  in  caricature,  157,  158. 

"Two-thirds  rule,"  the,  10,  13, 
52,  89-98. 

Tyler,  John,  14,  17;  treachery  to 
his  party,  30;  44;  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  219. 

"UNIT  RULE,"  the,  13, 81, 82, 91, 
93;  abrogation  of,  96,  97. 

VAN  BUREN,  Martin,  nominated 
Vice-President,  1832,  9,  10; 
nominated  President,  1835, 11; 
15;  leading  candidate  in  1844, 
16;  betrayal  of,  18-21;  32,  89, 
93,  99,  136;  caricatures  of, 
136,  137,  146,  147,  154,  155; 
177,  199;  electoral  votes  cast 
for,  89,  217-219. 

Van  Zandt,  Miss,  204. 

Vice-President,  election  of,  125- 
129. 


INDEX 


237 


WALKER,  James  R.,  electoral 
vote  for,  222. 

Washburne,  Elihu  B.,  79;  elec- 
toral votes  cast  for,  86. 

Washington,  George,  126;  letters 
expressing  reluctance  to  ac- 
cept office  of  President,  165, 
166;  note  from  diary,  166; 
journey  from  Mount  Vernon 
to  New  York,  166-170;  ad- 
dress at  Alexandria,  167;  ban- 
quet to,  in  Philadelphia,  168; 
barge  built  for,  168;  enthusi- 
astic reception  in  New  York, 
168-170;  house  in  New  York, 
170;  feeling  regarding  recep- 
tion given  him,  170;  first  in- 
auguration, 170-175;  inaugu- 
ration clothes,  173,|l86;  second 
inauguration,  176;  at  Adams's 
inauguration,  177-180;  188, 
189;  electoral  votes  cast  for, 
215. 

Watkins,  Aaron  S.,  electoral 
vote  for,  224,  225. 

Watson,  Thomas  E.,  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  223,  224. 

Weaver,  James  B.,  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  222,  223. 

Webb,  General  James  Watson, 
150,  153. 

Webster,  Daniel,  12,  13;  am- 
bition to  become  President, 
28  et  seq. ;  nominated  by  Mas- 
sachusetts, 28,  29;  his  support 
of  Harrison,  29;  made  secre- 
tary of  state,  29;  his  revision 
of  Harrison's  inaugural  ad- 
dress, 29,  30;  resignation  of 
secretaryship  of  state,  30;  re- 
fusal to  permit  New  Hamp- 
shire to  nominate  him,  30; 
support  of  Clay,  31;  re-elected 
to  the  Senate,  31 ;  comment  on 
General  Taylor,  31,  32;  final 
appearance  as  a  candidate,  32- 


34;  effect  of  his  speech  on  the 
Wilmot  Proviso,  33;  disap- 
pointment at  General  Scott's 
nomination,  34-36;  death,  35, 
36;  60;  on  Jackson's  inaugura- 
tion, 190;  electoral  votes  cast 
for,  218. 

Weed,  Thurlow,  his  account  of 
first  nominating  convention, 
5,  6;  his  campaign  against 
Clay,  12-14,  27;  conversation 
with  Webster,  29,  31;  32;  dis- 
appointment at  Seward's  de- 
feat, 44,  45;  48,  99;  on  the 
campaign  of  1840,  140,  141. 

West,  A.  M.,  electoral  vote  for, 
222. 

Wheeler,  William  A.,  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  129,  222. 

Whig  party,  the,  convention  in 
Harrisburg,  1839,  11-15;  24; 
convention  of  1848,  26;  con- 
vention of  1852,  32-35. 

White,  Hugh  L.,  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  218. 

Wigwam,  the,  39,  40. 

Wilkins,  William,, electoral  votes 
cast  for,  218. 

Williams,  Samuel,  electoral  vote 
for,  224. 

Wilson,  Henry,  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  221. 

Wilson,  Woodrow,  nomination 
of,  97,  98;  election,  123;  in- 
auguration, 214;  electoral 
votes  cast  for,  98,  123,  225. 

Wirt,  William,  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  218. 

Wise,  Henry  A.,  his  account  of 
Clay's  rage  when  defeated,  23. 

Woodhull,  Victoria,  156. 

Wool,  American,  186,  188. 

Wooley,  John  G.,  electoral  votes 
cast  for,  224. 

Wright,  Silas,  nomination  in  1844 
declined  by  telegraph,  20,  21. 


Cl 


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